2021 A-League Grand Final

The 2021 A-League Grand Final was the 16th A-League Grand Final, the championship-deciding match of the Australian A-League and the culmination of the 2020–21 season. The match was played between season premiers Melbourne City and the second-placed team and championship holders Sydney FC on 27 June 2021 at AAMI Park in Melbourne.[1][2][3]

2021 A-League Grand Final
A panorama of AAMI Park prior to kick off
Event2020–21 A-League
Date27 June 2021
VenueAAMI Park, Melbourne
Joe Marston MedalNathaniel Atkinson
RefereeChris Beath
Attendance14,017
WeatherSunny and clear
12.0 °C (53.6 °F)
2020
2022

Melbourne City won their first championship by beating Sydney 3–1.

Teams

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In the following table, finals until 2004 were in the National Soccer League era, since 2006 were in the A-League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Melbourne City 1 (2020)
Sydney FC 6 (2006, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)

Route to the final

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The 2020–21 season was the league's sixteenth since its inception in 2005, and the 44th season of top-flight association football in Australia. Twelve teams competed in the regular season, with each team playing a total of 26 matches, resulting in an uneven fixture that involved some clubs meeting three times and others meeting only twice. The top six teams qualified for the finals series, which were played in a straight-knockout format, with the top two teams earning an automatic place in the semi-finals and the bottom four teams playing off in elimination finals. The two winners of the semi-finals met in the grand final. Melbourne City and Sydney FC qualified for the semi-finals by virtue of finishing first and second respectively, whilst Central Coast Mariners (third) met Macarthur FC (sixth) in the first elimination final and Brisbane Roar (fourth) took on Adelaide United (fifth) in the second elimination final. Macarthur defeated Central Coast Mariners two goals to nil, both goals coming in extra time and Adelaide United defeated Brisbane Roar two goals to one. As the top-ranked team, Melbourne City were paired with and defeated Macarthur, the lowest-ranked winning team, 2–0, for their semi-final, whilst Sydney FC were victorious against Adelaide United in the other semi-final, the scoreline being 2–1.

Due to crowd restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Melbourne City's home semi-final was moved to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in New South Wales.[4]

Melbourne City Round Sydney FC
1st place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Melbourne City (C) 26 49
2 Sydney FC 26 47
3 Central Coast Mariners 26 42
4 Brisbane Roar 26 40
5 Adelaide United 26 39
Source: A-Leagues
(C) Champions
Regular season 2nd place
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Melbourne City (C) 26 49
2 Sydney FC 26 47
3 Central Coast Mariners 26 42
4 Brisbane Roar 26 40
5 Adelaide United 26 39
Source: A-Leagues
(C) Champions
Opponent Score Opponent Score
Bye week N/A Elimination finals Bye week N/A
Macarthur FC 2–0 Semi-finals Adelaide United 2–1

Pre-match

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AAMI Park in Melbourne hosted the Grand Final

Venue

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The Grand Final was held at AAMI Park, Melbourne, Victoria, the home ground of Melbourne City.[5] It was the second Grand Final hosted at the venue, after 2015.

Attendance

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Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the stadium was limited to 50% capacity.[6] Tickets for the game were sold out, resulting in a final attendance of 14,017 spectators.[7] Due to a COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, many travelling fans for the away team were unable to attend the match.[8]

Broadcasting

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The Grand Final was broadcast throughout Australia live on Fox Sports and streamed for free on Kayo Sports through the Kayo Freebies initiative.[9] This was also the last A-League match broadcast on Fox Sports after a sixteen-year association with the broadcaster, with the A-League moving to Network 10 and Paramount+.[10] In the United States, the Grand Final was shown on ESPN+.

Match

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Summary

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Despite early dominance from Melbourne City, they slipped to an early disadvantage after Sydney FC's Kosta Barbarouses hit a powerful effort past City goalkeeper Thomas Glover. Shortly after this goal, the eventual Joe Marston medalist Nathaniel Atkinson scored for City to put the teams level at 1–1. In the 35th minute of the match, Sydney midfielder Luke Brattan was sent off after accumulating two yellow cards, allowing Melbourne to continue to dominate after this point in the match. They eventually won the game 3–1 thanks to further goals from captain Scott Jamieson and Scott Galloway, and claimed their first A-League championship.[11][12]

Details

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Melbourne City3–1Sydney FC
Report Barbarouses   21'
Attendance: 14,017
Referee: Chris Beath
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Melbourne City
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sydney FC
GK 1   Tom Glover
RB 2   Scott Galloway
CB 4   Nuno Reis
CB 7   Rostyn Griffiths
LB 3   Scott Jamieson (c)
CM 10   Florin Berenguer
CM 8   Aiden O'Neill
CM 20   Adrián Luna
RF 13   Nathaniel Atkinson
CF 17   Stefan Colakovski   73'   74'
LF 23   Marco Tilio   54'
Substitutes:
GK 33   Matt Sutton
DF 19   Ben Garuccio
DF 36   Kerrin Stokes
MF 16   Taras Gomulka
FW 11   Craig Noone
FW 15   Andrew Nabbout   74'
FW 35   Raphael Borges Rodrigues
Head coach:
  Patrick Kisnorbo
 
GK 20   Tom Heward-Belle
RB 8   Paulo Retre
CB 4   Alex Wilkinson (c)
CB 3   Ben Warland
LB 16   Joel King
CM 17   Anthony Caceres   86'
CM 26   Luke Brattan   25'   35'
RM 11   Kosta Barbarouses
LM 5   Alexander Baumjohann   72'
CF 9   Bobô   38'
CF 99   Adam Le Fondre
Substitutes:
GK 30   Adam Pavlesic
DF 2   Patrick Flottmann
DF 21   Harry Van Der Saag   38'
DF 25   Callum Talbot
MF 10   Miloš Ninković   72'
FW 18   Luke Ivanovic
FW 33   Patrick Wood   86'
Head coach:
  Steve Corica

Joe Marston Medal:
Nathaniel Atkinson (Melbourne City)

Assistant referees:
Matthew Cream
Nathan MacDonald
Fourth official:
Daniel Elder
Fifth official:
Wilson Brown
Video assistant referee:
Kris Griffiths-Jones

Match rules

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Seven named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions, with a fourth allowed in extra time.

Statistics

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Overall statistics
Melbourne City Sydney FC
Goals scored 3 1
Total shots 26 3
Shots on target 8 1
Ball possession 69.5% 30.5%
Corner kicks 10 1
Fouls conceded 15 14
Offsides 1 1
Yellow cards 2 2
Red cards 0 1

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Competition Rules". a-league.com.au. A-League. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  2. ^ "A-League 2021 Finals Series Dates Revealed". a-league.com.au. A-League. 4 June 2021.
  3. ^ "A-League 2021 Grand Final to be held at AAMI Park on Sunday 27 June". a-league.com.au. A-League. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  4. ^ "A-League 2021 Semi Final between Melbourne City FC and Macarthur FC switched to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium". a-league.com.au. A-League. 17 June 2021.
  5. ^ "A-League 2021 Grand Final to be held at AAMI Park on Sunday 27 June". A-League. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  6. ^ "All tickets sold for A-League 2021 Grand Final". A-League. 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  7. ^ "All tickets sold for A-League 2021 Grand Final". A-League. 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  8. ^ "Sydney COVID-19 restrictions force State of Origin, A-League grand final, AFL changes". www.abc.net.au. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  9. ^ "Kayo Freebies: how to watch all the Finals Series action LIVE and FREE on Kayo Sports!". a-league.com.au. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  10. ^ Perry, Kevin. "A-LEAGUE FINDS NEW HOME ON CHANNEL 10 AND PARAMOUNT+". tvblackbox.com.au. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  11. ^ Jackson, Andrew (27 June 2021). "A 'moment of madness', penalty drama and quickfire goals — this A-League GF had it ALL". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09.
  12. ^ Rayson, Zac (27 June 2021). "Melbourne City claim maiden crown as Sky Blue dynasty denied in epic final". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09.