The 2009 A-League Grand Final took place at

Telstra Dome Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 28 February 2009. It was the final match in the

A-League 2008–09 A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

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 e ...

and runners-up

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. 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 national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

, 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, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

. 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 The Joe Marston Medal is an A-League award given to the player of the match in the A-League Grand Final each year. Introduced in 1990, previously the award was also given to the best player in the National Soccer League grand final. The medal i ...

. 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 d ...

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 competiti ...

saw the Reds go down to ten men by the tenth minute. However, Adelaide managed to hold back Melbourne from scoring until

Tom Pondeljak Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak (born 8 January 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a retired Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Victorian Premier League side St Albans Saints SC. Club career Pondeljak started his career ...

scored 23 metres out from goal in the 60th minute to allow Melbourne to take the lead. Five minutes later, Melbourne striker

Daniel Allsopp Daniel Lee Allsopp (born 10 August 1978) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a striker. As a player he notably played for Manchester City for several seasons and was part of their team that earned promotion back to the Premi ...

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 esta ...

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.

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 in Melbourne