Melbourne Victory have been crowned champions of the A-League following a 3-0 win over Sydney FC in the grand final at AAMI Park.
Melbourne dominated possession in the opening stages, with Besart Berisha going close to opening the scoring with a strike that was deflected away for a corner.
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Sydney suffered a blow in the 19th minute when defender Jacques Faty was forced off with a hamstring injury, with Rhyan Grant replacing him.
Melbourne opened the scoring in the 33rd minute through Berisha. The former Burnley striker won possession of the ball just inside the penalty area before firing beyond Vedran Janjetovic for his fifth strike in A-League finals.
Kosta Barbarouses thought that he had doubled Melbourne's lead before the break, but his effort was ruled out due to Berisha moving into an offside position.
The New Zealander went close again just after the break with a strike that flew narrowly wide of Janjetovic's post.
Sydney failed to carve out chances against a tight Melbourne defence, with their best coming in the 78th minute as Marc Janko's header forced Lawrence Thomas into a fine save.
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Sydney were made to pay for that miss as Barbarouses made it 2-0 to Melbourne five minutes later, tucking the ball home from close range after following up a shot that was parried out by Janjetovic.
Melbourne looked poised for a nervy final few minutes after Carl Valeri was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Leigh Broxham put the game beyond Sydney's reach in injury time with a clinical finish.
The victory means that Melbourne head coach Kevin Muscat has become the first man to win the A-League as a player and coach.
Steven Toplis
