Melbourne Victory will meet either Lions FC or South Melbourne in the 2026 Australia Cup final after booking their spot in the decider with a 2-0 win over Sydney FC on Wednesday night at Jubilee Stadium.
On a blustery night in Sydney, the visitors took the lead inside two minutes through Keegan Jelacic, before a Jordan Courtney-Perkins own-goal doubled their advantage just after the hour mark.
Patrick Kisnorbo and his men will rue the decision to deny them a penalty for the incident that saw Takahiro Sekine collected by goalkeeper Jack Duncan on an evening where the referees were a major part of the story.
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Victory with a perfect start to the Semi!
An absolute dream for the visitors, as Keegan Jelacic strikes in the 2nd minute to give @gomvfc the early edge in Sydney
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It came after the Professional Football Referees Association announced last Friday that its members would not accept assignments for Australia Cup, Australian Championship or pre-season trials until its disagreement with Football Australia is resolved.
With that in mind, the last thing the sport needed was for decisions to be in the spotlight. This one was so blatant it was described by A-League legend Daniel McBreen as a ‘250% penalty’ on Paramount’s coverage.
There was another at the other end, where Courtney-Perkins appeared to handle the ball after misjudging the flight, but that was also not given a second look by the officials.
However, Sydney can’t be too disappointed they are not heading for the final, given how this match played out on the whole.
They were behind inside two minutes when Joe Lacey’s loose touch allowed Matt Grimaldi to jump in and steal possession, before feeding Jelacic in behind. The midfielder promptly rifled a clinical finish past Gus Hoefsloot into the bottom corner.
The Sky Blues dominated possession to the tune of 76% in the opening half and showed glimpses of promise, particularly when the likes of Akol Akon, Tiago Quintal and Sekine were involved in and around the final third.
Just after the half hour mark, Sydney were again guilty of giving the ball away too easily, when Alexandar Popovic was dispossessed by Clarismario Santos, who looked to drive into the area, only to be felled by Jake Hollman.
The Sky Blues had their chances as new signing Oriola Sunday buzzed up front and saw a shot fall just wide after a cross in from Ben Garuccio fell kindly. The proceeding corner looked certain to find its way in, but somehow was kept out by Victory as the flag went up.
There were boos at half-time from the home crowd as their side went into the sheds trailing, but you sensed they were as much for the referees as for the Sydney players.
Victory go two clear in the Semi Final!@gomvfc double the advantage after the break, as Charles Nduka’s ball takes a deflection off Courtney-Perkins into the back of the net
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The second half saw Victory come out stronger, with the best chance falling the way of Grimaldi, who sent his free header over the bar from Jelacic’s delivery.
Not long after, they did have the ball in the net again, thanks to a helping hand from Courtney-Perkins, although it was a beautiful move that led to that point.
A superb flick from Jelacic – who was arguably the best afield on the night – send Jordi Valadon forward. He produced a perfectly-weighted ball in behind for Charles Nduka, who looked to cut the ball back inside, but instead caught a deflection that saw the ball ricochet past Hoefsloot to put Victory on the cusp of the final.
Sydney wrestled back momentum as the half went on, with Kisnorbo turning to his bench in the hope of finding a route back into the clash.
On came Al Hassan Toure, Rhys Youlley, Mathias Macallister and, notably, James Overy who replaced Rhyan Grant at right-back for his debut after joining this week from Manchester United.
There was almost a lifeline in the 81st minute when Kisnorbo’s side produced their best move of the night.
The movement and passing was exquisite as Toure, Quintal and ultimately Sekine linked up with the Japanese import getting into the box brilliantly, but skying his effort over the bar. That would’ve continued an extraordinary scoring run since joining the club.
Ultimately, the visitors’ defence held firm and they were good value for the win.
Victory are now headed to the Australia Cup Final and they will back themselves to get a result against NPL opposition.
Should they do so, they will equal Adelaide United as the most successful side in the competition’s history with three trophies apiece and also secure a spot in Asia.
That would be some way to start the Giovanni Savarese era.