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2018 A-League Grand Final

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2018 A-League Grand Final
Event2017–18 A-League
Date5 May 2018
VenueMcDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Man of the MatchLawrence Thomas
RefereeJarred Gillett
Attendance29,410
2017
2019

The 2018 A-League Grand Final was the thirteenth A-League Grand Final, played on 5 May 2018. The match took place at McDonald Jones Stadium, with Newcastle Jets hosting Melbourne Victory, the first A-League grand final held outside a metropolitan city.[1]

Kosta Barbarouses scored the only goal of the game, in the 9th minute. It was a controversial goal, as replays showed that there was an offside offence in the lead up to the goal, but the Video Assistant Referee system had gone down for technical reasons and the goal was allowed to stand.

Teams

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In the following table, finals until 2004 were in the National Soccer League era, since 2006 were in the A-League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Newcastle Jets 1 (2008)
Melbourne Victory 5 (2007, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017)

Records

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Kosta Barbarouses's 9th-minute goal was the fastest ever goal scored in an A-League Grand Final.[2]

Kosta Barbarouses's 9th-minute goal was the equal 3rd fastest goal ever scored in any previous National Soccer League Grand Final & A-League Grand Final history behind John Anastasiadis in 1998 for South Melbourne against Carlton at Olympic Park, Mile Sterjovski in 1999 for Sydney United against South Melbourne at Olympic Park, and Mark Koussas in 1984 for Sydney Olympic against South Melbourne at Olympic Park.

Melbourne Victory became the first ever team to qualify for the A-League Grand Final from outside the top 3. With their win, the Victory became the first team in A-League history to win 4 championships, and the first team in A-League history to win the Championship from outside the top 2.[3]

Melbourne Victory also became the first team to win the championship from outside the top 2 positions after regular season since Adelaide City won the 1994 NSL Grand Final from 5th spot on the ladder and Melbourne Victory are only just the 9th team in history to win an away from home Grand Final in 34-year history of season deciders in NSL & A-League history and were just only the 7th team in history to win the NSL Grand Final & A-League Grand Final from outside the top 2 positions after regular season.

Melbourne Victory equal the record for most NSL & A-League championships on four titles along with Hakoah Sydney City (1977, 1980, 1981, 1982), Marconi Stallions (1979, 1988, 1989, 1993), and South Melbourne (1984, 1991, 1998, 1999).

The crowd of 29,410 was Newcastle's biggest ever home attendance.

Video assistant referee (VAR) controversy

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Kosta Barbarouses's goal in the 9th minute of the game came about via a header from James Donachie, however Donachie was offside when Leroy George took the free kick which Donachie passed to Barbarouses. The game's video assistant referee (VAR) system failed to detect Donachie's offside position as its video feed had failed in the thirty seconds leading up to the goal. By the time the system was restored, the game had resumed, meaning the decision to allow the goal stood. The Football Federation Australia later acknowledged the technical issues, but offered no real apology to the Newcastle team or fans.[4] It was discovered that the VAR system had lost access to the camera views which would have allowed for the offside ruling. The incident only happened once throughout the season. FFA's Head of Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League, Greg O'Rourke, stated "This is important not just for the Hyundai A-League but for other leagues around the world and for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia at which VAR will be used for the first time."[5]

Roy O'Donovan

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Roy O'Donovan was immediately issued a red card, and later on a 10 game ban, for the high kick he delivered against Victory goal keeper Lawrence Thomas's face in the 93rd minute of the final.[6]

Following the 3 days of deliberation after the hearing, the Football Federation Australia's disciplinary and ethics committee decided on the harsh punishment for the Newcastle striker. It is the second-biggest ban ever given in the A-League, over the 8-game ban he had been given two years earlier for headbutting Wellington's Manny Muscat. O'Donovan's representation agreed that his actions were "careless" but also argued that he had been playing the ball in desperation to score an equaliser in the game's final seconds. Arguments which the disciplinary committee dismissed, insisting that his intention was clearly to injure Thomas as he was rushing for the ball. Ivan Griscti, FIFA's counsel, stated that "it does appear that the player is looking at the goalkeeper". O'Donovan attempted to plead his case via video link, stating that his vision at the time was blurred having been elbowed in the face from Besart Berisha only moments before, and that he had not realized that he had made contact with Thomas' head.[7]

Bans

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  • Danny Vukovic: nine months and three months suspended, striking a referee
  • Roy O'Donovan: 10 games, kicking
  • Tiago Calvano: eight games and four suspended, holding a referee
  • Kevin Muscat: eight games, serious foul play
  • Roy O'Donovan: eight games, headbutting
  • Ney Fabiano: six games, spitting[7]

Route to the final

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Pos Team Pts
1 Sydney FC 64
2 Newcastle Jets 50
3 Melbourne City 43
4 Melbourne Victory 41
5 Adelaide United 39
6 Brisbane Roar 35
Elimination-finals Semi-finals Grand Final
Sydney FC 2
Melbourne Victory 2 Melbourne Victory 3
Adelaide United 1 Newcastle Jets 0
Melbourne Victory 1
Newcastle Jets 2
Melbourne City 2 Melbourne City 1
Brisbane Roar 0


Match

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Details

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Newcastle Jets0–1Melbourne Victory
Reports[8]
Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory
GK 20 New Zealand Glen Moss
RB 17 North Macedonia Daniel Georgievski Yellow card 51' downward-facing red arrow 74'
CB 4 Australia Nigel Boogaard
CB 44 Australia Nikolai Topor-Stanley
LB 18 Australia John Koutroumbis
CM 27 Australia Riley McGree
CM 6 Australia Steven Ugarkovic
CM 8 Venezuela Ronald Vargas downward-facing red arrow 65'
RW 3 Australia Jason Hoffman Yellow card 90+1'
CF 9 Republic of Ireland Roy O'Donovan Red card 90+3'
LW 7 Australia Dimitri Petratos
Substitutes:
GK 30 Australia Ivan Necevski
DF 22 Australia Lachlan Jackson
DF 16 Australia Nick Cowburn
FW 11 Argentina Patito Rodríguez upward-facing green arrow 74'
FW 24 Australia Joe Champness upward-facing green arrow 65'
Manager: Scotland Ernie Merrick
GK 20 Australia Lawrence Thomas
RB 22 Australia Stefan Nigro downward-facing red arrow 77'
CB 17 Australia James Donachie
CB 14 Australia Thomas Deng
LB 6 Australia Leigh Broxham
DM 21 Australia Carl Valeri (c)
DM 24 Australia Terry Antonis
RM 9 New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses
AM 10 Australia James Troisi
LM 41 Netherlands Leroy George
CF 8 Kosovo Besart Berisha
Substitutes:
GK 1 Australia Matt Acton
MF 16 Australia Joshua Hope
MF 18 Argentina Matías Sánchez Yellow card 90+2' upward-facing green arrow 77'
FW 23 New Zealand Jai Ingham
FW 7 Australia Kenny Athiu
Manager: Australia Kevin Muscat

Joe Marston Medal:
Lawrence Thomas

Assistant referees:
Matthew Cream
Paul Cetrangolo
Fourth official:
Kurt Ams

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.
A-League
2018 Champions
Australia
Melbourne Victory
Fourth Title

Statistics

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Overall statistics[9]
Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory
Goals scored 0 1
Total shots 14 7
Shots on target 4 2
Ball possession 58.3% 41.7%
Corner kicks 4 5
Fouls Conceded 12 17
Offsides 1 2
Yellow cards 2 1
Red cards 1 0

Broadcasting

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The Grand Final was broadcast live throughout Australia on Fox Sports and Network Ten.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Gardiner, James (29 April 2018). "Newcastle Jets to host A-League grand final after Victory stun Sydney FC". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ "A-League grand final: Melbourne Victory beat Newcastle Jets 1-0 to win fourth championship". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. ^ Rosengarten, Jake. "Melbourne Victory's grand final win sees Melbourne City without an Asian Champions League spot". Fox Sports Australia. News Corp. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  4. ^ "Major VAR glitch behind offside goal standing in A-League decider". ABC News. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  5. ^ "FFA statement in relation to the Hyundai A-League 2018 Grand Final". a-league.com.au. 6 May 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Victory's A-League grand final win marred by referee's shocking call". thenewdaily.com.au. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Roy O'Donovan handed 10-game ban for A-League grand final assault". theguardian.com. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  8. ^ "A-Leagues". KEEPUP. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory". A-League. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  10. ^ "New TV deal for Football". Hyundai A-League. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
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