2018 A-League Grand Final

Last updated

2018 A-League Grand Final
Event 2017–18 A-League
Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory
01
Date5 May 2018
Venue McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Man of the Match Lawrence Thomas
Referee Jarred 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]

Contents

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

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

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

Records

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

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

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]

Route to the final

PosTeamPts
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

Details

Newcastle Jets 0–1 Melbourne Victory
Reports [8]
McDonald Jones Stadium , Newcastle
Attendance: 29,410
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Kit left arm nujfc1718h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body nujfc1718h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm nujfc1718h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts nujfc1718h.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks nujfc1718h.png
Kit socks long.svg
Newcastle Jets
Kit left arm victory1718a.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body melbvic1718a.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm victory1718a.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts adidasonwhite.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks color 3 stripes on white.png
Kit socks long.svg
Melbourne Victory
GK20 Flag of New Zealand.svg Glen Moss
RB17 Flag of North Macedonia.svg Daniel Georgievski Yellow card.svg 51'Sub off.svg 74'
CB4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nigel Boogaard
CB44 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nikolai Topor-Stanley
LB18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Koutroumbis
CM27 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Riley McGree
CM6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steven Ugarkovic
CM8 Flag of Venezuela.svg Ronald Vargas Sub off.svg 65'
RW3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Hoffman Yellow card.svg 90+1'
CF9 Flag of Ireland.svg Roy O'Donovan Red card.svg 90+3'
LW7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dimitri Petratos
Substitutes:
GK30 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ivan Necevski
DF22 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lachlan Jackson
DF16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nick Cowburn
FW11 Flag of Argentina.svg Patito Rodríguez Sub on.svg 74'
FW24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Joe Champness Sub on.svg 65'
Manager: Flag of Scotland.svg Ernie Merrick
GK20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lawrence Thomas
RB22 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stefan Nigro Sub off.svg 77'
CB17 Flag of Australia (converted).svg James Donachie
CB14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Thomas Deng
LB6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Leigh Broxham
DM21 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Carl Valeri (c)
DM24 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Antonis
RM9 Flag of New Zealand.svg Kosta Barbarouses
AM10 Flag of Australia (converted).svg James Troisi
LM41 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Leroy George
CF8 Flag of Kosovo.svg Besart Berisha
Substitutes:
GK1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matt Acton
MF16 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Joshua Hope
MF18 Flag of Argentina.svg Matías Sánchez Yellow card.svg 90+2'Sub on.svg 77'
FW23 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jai Ingham
FW7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kenny Athiu
Manager: Flag of Australia (converted).svg 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
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Melbourne Victory
Fourth Title

Statistics

Overall statistics [9]
Newcastle JetsMelbourne Victory
Goals scored01
Total shots147
Shots on target42
Ball possession58.3%41.7%
Corner kicks45
Fouls Conceded1217
Offsides12
Yellow cards21
Red cards10

Broadcasting

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

See also

References

  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". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Rosengarten, Jake (6 May 2018). "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. ↑ "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.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.