Melbourne City down Sydney FC in A-League grand final

SYDNEY, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Melbourne City claimed a 3-1 victory on Sunday for their first-ever A-League championship to deny Sydney FC what would have been their third grand final win in a row.

Melbourne's victory also served as revenge for their heartbreaking loss against Sydney last season, where they lost 1-0 in the final minutes.

Both teams were missing core players either through injury or having been drafted by Australia's national football team for the Tokyo Olympics.

The match kicked off on Sunday night at Melbourne's AAMI Park arena which was running at 50 percent capacity due to pandemic health measures.

The first goal of the match came 21 minutes into the game by Sydney's New Zealand-born Kosta Barbarouses.

However, Sydney's momentum was quickly checked when Melbourne's Nathaniel Atkinson equalized just two minutes later.

What ultimately swung the game's tide was a red card shown to Sydney's Luke Brattan, and the ensuing penalty from captain Scott Jamieson put Melbourne ahead late in the first half.

After several good saves from Sydney goalkeeper Thomas Heward-Belle, Melbourne sealed the victory in injury time with their third goal, a long-range belter from full-back Scott Galloway, bringing the final score to 3-1.

"I'm very humble and grateful for what I've been given, what I've learned. But it's all the players, at the end of the day I'm the one standing on the sidelines but the players do all the work," said Melbourne coach Michael Zappone after the match.

The stakes were high for both teams in this year's A-League grand final. For Melbourne, it was their first ever victory, and for Sydney, it was a missed opportunity for the league's first ever three-peat. Enditem