Football: Melbourne City seal first A-League title with 3-1 win over Sydney

MELBOURNE (REUTERS) - Melbourne City sealed their first Australian championship with a 3-1 win over 10-man Sydney FC in the A-League 'Grand Final' on Sunday (June 27), gaining sweet revenge after defeat to the 'Sky Blues' in last year's title-decider.

Scott Galloway capped the win with a blistering stoppage-time strike as Sydney were left to lament Luke Brattan's 35th-minute sending-off for a second yellow card at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

Kosta Barbarouses opened the scoring for Sydney in the 21st minute but Nathaniel Atkinson equalised two minutes later before City captain Scott Jamieson nudged the home side ahead with a penalty on the cusp of halftime.

"I'm speechless, honestly, it's the proudest moment of my career," said Atkinson, who was awarded the Joe Marston Medal as player of the match.

"It's a strange world we live in at the moment ... I've seen the ups and downs of this club and we've finally done it."

Though under heavy pressure from City's relentless attack, five-times champions Sydney struck the early blow when Barbarouses unleashed a rocket from outside the area that fizzed inside the far post.

The visitors' joy lasted scarcely two minutes before Atkinson linked up with striker Stefan Colakovski and fired a superb finish past the near post and into the roof of the net.

Midfield veteran Brattan, who was booked a minute earlier for a high boot, exited on the verge of tears after he drew his second yellow for a sliding challenge on Marco Tilio.

Sydney fans had little to protest with the send-off but coach Steve Corica was incensed when referee Chris Beath awarded an injury-time penalty before the break.

Adrian Luna was brought down on the edge of the area in a tangle with Anthony Caceres, and though the contact appeared innocuous, the decision stood.

Jamieson sent goalkeeper Thomas Heward-Belle diving the wrong way and coolly thumped the penalty into the right of the net.

Sydney battled hard after the break to prevent the floodgates opening but Galloway struck with a low, left-foot missile from outside the area in the third minute of stoppage-time.

The 30,000-seat stadium was capped at half-capacity due to Covid-19 curbs but the sell-out crowd were in raptures as City erased the agony of their 1-0 defeat by the Sky Blues in last year's Grand Final.