The 2009 A-League Grand Final took place at
Telstra Dome
Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was completed ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on 28 February 2009.
It was the final match in the
A-League 2008–09 season, and was played between premiers
Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...
and runners-up
Adelaide United
Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...
. 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
A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...
, after also claiming the
2008 Pre-Season Challenge Cup, and the
2008–09 Premiership.
The Grand Final was the last event to be held at the ''Telstra Dome'', the former name of Melbourne's
Docklands Stadium
Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands, Victoria, Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 199 ...
. Due to a change in sponsorship, the stadium is now known as ''Etihad Stadium''.
Route to the finals
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
A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction.
Red card may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers
* Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...
given to the lone Adelaide striker
Cristiano by referee
Matthew Breeze
Matthew Christopher Breeze (born 10 June 1972) is an Australian association football referee. He is also a barrister and a former police prosecutor.
Refereeing career Domestic career
He officiates in the Australian A-League football competition. ...
saw the Reds go down to ten men by the tenth minute.
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.
Both Cristiano and Allsopp's red cards were revoked by the
Football Federation Australia
Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only establ ...
in a post-match conference.
Details
Statistics
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.
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
" I couldn't sleep after the game."
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.
See also
*
2008–09 A-League
The 2008–09 A-League was the 32nd season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the fourth season of the A-League competition since its establishment in 2004. Two new clubs, North Queensland Thunder and Gold Coast Galaxy had received tentati ...
*
List of A-League champions
This is a list of A-League Men honours achieved since the 2005–06 A-League, inaugural season of the league. The following details honours won by A-League Men clubs and those awarded to players, managers and referees of the competition.
Club ...
References
External links
Official A-League Website
{{Adelaide United FC matches
2008–09 A-League season
A-League Men Grand Finals
Adelaide United FC matches
Melbourne Victory FC matches
Soccer competitions in Melbourne
A-League Men matches