2009 A-League Grand Final

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2009 A-League Grand Final
Event 2008–09 A-League
Melbourne Victory Adelaide United
10
Date28 February 2009
Venue Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Man of the Match Tom Pondeljak, Melbourne Victory
Referee Matthew Breeze
Attendance53,273
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The 2009 A-League Grand Final took place at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia on 28 February 2009.

Contents

It was the final match in the A-League 2008–09 season, and was played between premiers Melbourne Victory and runners-up Adelaide United. Melbourne Victory won the match 1–0 and became the winners of the 2008–09 Championship, thus becoming the first team to win the A-League domestic treble, after also claiming the 2008 Pre-Season Challenge Cup, and the 2008–09 Premiership. [1]

The Grand Final was the last event to be held at the Telstra Dome, the former name of Melbourne's Docklands Stadium. Due to a change in sponsorship, the stadium is now known as Etihad Stadium.

Route to the finals

SemifinalsPreliminary finalFinal
Melbourne Victory 24 Melbourne Victory 1
Adelaide United 00 Adelaide United 0
Adelaide United 1
Queensland Roar 0
Queensland Roar 22
Central Coast Mariners 01

Match

Summary

With both teams down to ten men for the last 25 minutes, Adelaide were left scoreless with Melbourne taking their second A-League championship medal. Pondeljak's goal earned him the prestigious Joe Marston Medal.

A contentious early red card given to the lone Adelaide striker Cristiano by referee Matthew Breeze saw the Reds go down to ten men by the tenth minute. [2] [3] However, Adelaide managed to hold back Melbourne from scoring until Tom Pondeljak scored 23 metres out from goal in the 60th minute to allow Melbourne to take the lead.

Five minutes later, Melbourne striker Daniel Allsopp was also sent off for allegedly headbutting Adelaide's Robert Cornthwaite in an incident in the Melbourne penalty box. [1]

Both Cristiano and Allsopp's red cards were revoked by the Football Federation Australia in a post-match conference. [4]

Details

Melbourne Victory 1–0 Adelaide United
Pondeljak Soccerball shade.svg60'Reports [5]
Telstra Dome, Melbourne
Attendance: 53,273
Referee: Matthew Breeze
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body whiteVwide.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Melbourne Victory
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body Kit frount AU reebok spikes.png
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Adelaide United
GK1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Michael Theoklitos
RB5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sebastian Ryall
CB2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Muscat (c)
CB12 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rodrigo Vargas
LB7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matthew Kemp
DM14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Billy Celeski
RM15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tom Pondeljak Yellow card.svg 61' Sub off.svg 83'
LM22 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nick Ward Sub off.svg 56'
AM16 Flag of Costa Rica.svg Carlos Hernández
CF9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Allsopp Red card.svg 65'
CF10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Archie Thompson
Substitutes:
GK20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mitchell Langerak
MF8 Flag of Scotland.svg Grant Brebner Sub on.svg 83'
FW11 Flag of Brazil.svg Ney Fabiano
MF17 Flag of Costa Rica.svg José Luis López Sub on.svg 89'
MF19 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Evan Berger Sub on.svg 56' Sub off.svg 89'
Manager:
Flag of Scotland.svg Ernie Merrick
Melbourne V Adelaide 2009.svg
GK20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Eugene Galeković
RB16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Mullen
CB19 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Saša Ognenovski Yellow card.svg 37'
CB2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Robert Cornthwaite  Yellow card.svg 81'
LB14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Scott Jamieson Yellow card.svg 56' Sub off.svg 73'
DM15 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Jonas Salley
DM24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Reid
RW13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Travis Dodd (c)Yellow card.svg 90'
AM18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fabian Barbiero Yellow card.svg 64'
LW7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lucas Pantelis Sub off.svg 63'
CF10 Flag of Brazil.svg Cristiano Red card.svg 10'
Substitutes:
GK30 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Birighitti
FW3 Flag of Brazil.svg Alemão
DF6 Flag of Brazil.svg Cássio Sub on.svg 73'
FW9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Agostino Sub on.svg 63'
MF28 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rostyn Griffiths
Manager:
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Aurelio Vidmar

Joe Marston Medal:
Tom Pondeljak (Melbourne Victory)


Assistant referees:
Matthew Cream
Fourth official:
Peter Green

Match rules

A-League
2009 Champions
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Melbourne Victory
Second Title

Statistics

MelbourneAdelaide
Attempts at goal159
Attempts on target63
Attempts off target96
Attempts – Woodwork00
Keeper saves24
Ball possession50%50%
Corners82
Fouls committed1719
Offsides21
Yellow cards15
Red cards11

Controversy

The red card to Adelaide talisman Cristiano after just 10 minutes in the championship decider against Melbourne Victory created a lot of controversy post match. [6] The Brazilian starlet had been warned before that referee Matthew Breeze would send him off if he suspected anything untoward about his heading with flailing arms. He felt as though he was a marked man all season by referee Matthew Breeze [7] " I couldn't sleep after the game." [7]

Fox Sports analyst and Former Australia international Robbie Slater claimed the referee made the wrong call, "ruined" the Grand Final and argued that the A-League should hire an elite overseas official to handle its championship game. [7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 O'Brien, Bren (28 February 2009). "Victory prevail in epic". A-League.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  2. ↑ O'Brien, Bren (28 February 2009). "Vidmar: Red card killed us". A-League.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  3. ↑ Taylor, John (2 March 2009). "A-League grand final red card sparks referee import call". Fox Sports (Australia) . Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Reds striker Cristiano's red card from A-League grand final has been revoked". Fox Sports (Australia). 3 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  5. ↑ "2009 A-League Grand Final". 3 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ↑ "Motorsport Video |Motorsport Highlights, Replays, News, Clips".
  7. 1 2 3 Taylor, John (2 March 2009). "A-League grand final red card sparks referee import call". Fox Sports. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
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