Victory have the edge
Melbourne has taken a giant step towards hosting the Hyundai A-League Grand Final after prevailing from an epic first leg of its major semi-final against Sydney 2-1 at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.
First-half goals from Nik Mrdja and Carlos Hernandez got Melbourne over the line but Sydney pushed the defending champions all the way with a John Aloisi goal, deflected in by Kevin Muscat, just before half-time paving the way for a tense second half.
Tensions reached boiling point when Mrdja was red-carded 18 minutes from time, but the home side held on and go into the second leg on March 7 holding the upper hand.
Sydney, which defeated Melbourne last Sunday to claim the Hyundai A-League premiership, now has 17 days to turn things around, with a 1-0 home win good enough for the Sky Blues to get straight through to the Grand Final.