2018 A-League Grand Final

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]

2018 A-League Grand Final
Event2017–18 A-League
Newcastle Jets Melbourne Victory
0 1
Date5 May 2018
VenueMcDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Man of the MatchLawrence Thomas
RefereeJarred Gillett
Attendance29,410

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.

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]

Route to the final
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
See also: 2017–18 A-League
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 Jets0–1Melbourne Victory
Report
Attendance: 29,410
Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory
GK20 Glen Moss
RB17 Daniel Georgievski 74' 51'
CB4 Nigel Boogaard
CB44 Nikolai Topor-Stanley
LB18 John Koutroumbis
CM27 Riley McGree
CM6 Steven Ugarkovic
CM8 Ronald Vargas 65'
RW3 Jason Hoffman 90+1'
CF9 Roy O'Donovan 90+3'
LW7 Dimitri Petratos
Substitutes:
GK30 Ivan Necevski
DF22 Lachlan Jackson
DF16 Nick Cowburn
FW11 Patito Rodríguez 74'
FW24 Joe Champness 65'
Manager: Ernie Merrick
GK20 Lawrence Thomas
RB22 Stefan Nigro 77'
CB17 James Donachie
CB14 Thomas Deng
LB6 Leigh Broxham
DM21 Carl Valeri (c)
DM24 Terry Antonis
RM9 Kosta Barbarouses 9'
AM10 James Troisi
LM41 Leroy George
CF8 Besart Berisha
Substitutes:
GK1 Matt Acton
DF16 Joshua Hope
MF23 Jai Ingham
MF18 Matías Sánchez 77' 90+2'
FW7 Kenny Athiu
Manager: 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
Melbourne Victory
Fourth Title

Statistics
Overall statistics[5]
Newcastle Jets Melbourne 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.[6]

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". 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. "Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory". A-League. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  6. "New TV deal for Football". Hyundai A-League. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
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