Israeli attacker Yonatan Cohen proved the hero when Melbourne City scooped up on Crosstown-Rivalen Melbourne Victory claimed with a 1-0 win to cancel the A-League title on Saturday.
For a sold -out crowd of 29,902 in Aami Park, Cohen scored in the 10th minute before the disciplined city ended the victory with gritty defense in a nerve change of second half.
City claimed that their second title had reached the grand finale for the fifth time in the past six years.
“It is amazing to do it against our rivals,” said Stadsdeveriger Nathaniel Atkinson.
“We got that early goal and we knew with our defense that we could keep a clean slate.”
It was a bitter disappointment for the victory, which, in the last obstacle for the second consecutive season, lost a shortage in the record of Sydney FC of five titles.
“It is really difficult to be in this position for two years in a row,” said victory defender Roderick Miranda.
“We had chances in the beginning, but in the second half they defended very well.”
The Powerhouse clubs had never met each other in a grand finale since the A-League replaced the National Soccer League in 2005 as the top football competition of Australia.
The Blockbuster decision maker was a tonic for a competition entangled by financial tension and declining popularity since the COVID-19 Pandemie.
A serious police -presence was visible before the match when opposing supporters marched through the streets and left torches, but there were no reports of violence.
In the midst of a febrile atmosphere in the stadium, the victory made the early running with striker Daniel Arzani who offered a headache for the defense of the city.
But City, who came in with an unbeaten eight-game streak, hit the run of play on their first trip.
The bullet of Max Caputo shot from the upright and directly to Israel International Cohen, who insisted the third fastest goal in the Grand Final History of A-League.
City continued to threaten the counterattack and a powerful header from Mathew Leckie was on goal until a desperate dive from goalkeeper Jack Duncan came to the rescue.
The tireless Arzani tried an equalizer for the victory, but he had little room to weave his silky skills against the swarming city defense.
Cohen opened the second half with a poor curly attack from the edge of the box only for Duncan to produce an excellent fully stretched save.
Tensions flared up between the teams, because City missed several golden opportunities to put an end to the resistance of the victory.
But their steel defense held up while the city broke out when the whistle sounded.