The 2007 A-League Grand Final took place at Telstra Dome in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 February 2007. The match was contested by premiers Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United, who had to play over half the game with ten men after their captain Ross Aloisi was sent off after 34 minutes. After the game, Adelaide coach John Kosmina heavily criticized the refereeing of the match and this, coupled with other issues, saw him forced to resign by the Adelaide board.
Melbourne prevailed 6–0 in the joint largest win in A-League history, and the greatest ever deficit in any Australian soccer Grand Final, including the old NSL. The match also set the largest sporting attendance at Docklands Stadium of 55,436 people. Archie Thompson scored five goals, only the sixth A-League hat-trick, and the most goals by an individual in any A-League match. This performance earned him the Joe Marston Medal.
Route to the finals
Match
Details
GK 1 Michael TheoklitosDF 16 Simon StoreyDF 15 Adrian LeijerDF 12 Rodrigo VargasDF 6 Steve Pantelidis MF 15 FredMF 2 Kevin Muscat (c)MF 17 Grant Brebner MF 14 Adrian Caceres FW 9 Danny AllsoppFW 10 Archie Thompson Substitutes:GK 20 Eugene GalekovicMF 13 Kristian SarkiesMF 18 AlessandroFW 23 James RobinsonMF 24 Leigh BroxhamManager: Ernie Merrick GK 1 Daniel BeltrameDF 2 Richie Alagich DF 4 Angelo CostanzoDF 5 Michael ValkanisDF 12 Greg Owens MF 13 Travis DoddMF 6 Ross Aloisi (c)MF 26 Diego WalshMF 15 Nathan BurnsFW 10 Fernando FW 8 Carl Veart Substitutes:GK 20 Robert BajicDF 3 Kristian ReesDF 14 Aaron Goulding MF 21 Jason Spagnuolo FW 25 Bruce Djite Manager: John Kosmina
Joe Marston Medal: Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory)
Assistant referees: Ben Wilson Nathan Gibson Fourth official: Matthew BreezeMatch rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
A-League2007 ChampionsMelbourne VictoryFirst Title
Statistics
Melbourne AdelaideAttempts at goal 22 14Attempts on target 15 9Attempts off target 6 5Attempts - Woodwork 1 0Keeper saves 5 3Ball possession 51% 49%Corners 5 5Fouls committed 12 23Offsides 4 1Yellow cards 1 5Red cards 0 1
See also 2006–07 A-League List of A-League champions
References
External links 1st Half Match highlights on YouTube 2nd Half Match highlights on YouTube Official A-League Website