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2020 A-League Grand Final

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2020 A-League Grand Final
Event2019–20 A-League
Sydney FC Melbourne City
1 0
Date30 August 2020
VenueBankwest Stadium, Sydney
Joe Marston MedalRhyan Grant
RefereeChris Beath
Attendance7,051
← 2019
2021 →

The 2020 A-League Grand Final was the fifteenth A-League Grand Final, the championship-deciding match of the Australian A-League and the culmination of the 2019–20 season. The match was originally scheduled to be played in May 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was played on 30 August 2020 between Sydney FC and Melbourne City at Bankwest Stadium in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, New South Wales.[1]

Sydney FC defeated Melbourne City, who were appearing in their first Grand Final, by 1 goal to nil. The win meant Sydney claimed their fifth A-League championship, a record amount for any club in Australian domestic league football.[2]

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)
Sydney FC 5 (2006, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Melbourne City None

Route to the final

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See also: 2019–20 A-League, 2019–20 Sydney FC season, and 2019–20 Melbourne City FC season

The 2019–20 season was the league's fifteenth since its inception in 2005, and the 43rd season of top-flight association football in Australia. Eleven 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. Sydney FC and Melbourne City qualified for the semi-finals by virtue of finishing first and second respectively, whilst Wellington Phoenix (third) met Perth Glory (sixth) in the first elimination final and Brisbane Roar (fourth) took on Western United (fifth) in the second elimination final. Perth and Western United won their respective matches by one goal to nil. As the top-ranked team Sydney FC were paired with and defeated Perth, the lowest-ranked winning team, for their semi-final, whilst Melbourne City were victorious against Western United in the other semi-final.

Due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, all finals matches and the grand final were played at Bankwest Stadium in New South Wales.[3][4]

Sydney FC Round Melbourne City
1st place
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1 Sydney FC (C) 26 53
2 Melbourne City 26 47
3 Wellington Phoenix 26 41
4 Brisbane Roar 26 40
5 Western United 26 39
Source: A-Leagues
(C) Champions
 Regular season 2nd place
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1 Sydney FC (C) 26 53
2 Melbourne City 26 47
3 Wellington Phoenix 26 41
4 Brisbane Roar 26 40
5 Western United 26 39
Source: A-Leagues
(C) Champions
Opponent Score Opponent Score
Bye week N/A Elimination finals Bye week N/A
Perth Glory 2–0 Semi-finals Western United 2–0

Pre-match

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Bankwest Stadium in Sydney hosted the Grand Final

Venue

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The Grand Final was held at Bankwest Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales.[6] It was the first Grand Final held at the venue.

Attendance

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Most A-League matches played after the season's resumption in mid-July were played behind closed doors, with others played before limited crowds in size due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed on sporting events by the New South Wales Government. A limited number of people were permitted into Bankwest Stadium for the Grand Final.[6]

Match

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Summary

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The match started with Melbourne City attacking repeatedly, with five shots in the first ten minutes, including many close chances. They nearly scored the first goal in the eighteenth minute with a Harrison Delbridge strike, however the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled that Lachlan Wales, who was in an offside position, obstructed the sight of Sydney FC's goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, meaning that the goal would not stand. Soon after, Sydney FC's Adam Le Fondre was seen to have been pulled down in the box by City's Curtis Good, however penalty shouts were ignored by referee Chris Beath and the VAR asserted this assessment. As the game progressed, Sydney eased into it however both teams still had a plethora of attacking opportunities, none of which were able to settle the result inside regular time due to exemplary showings from both Redmayne and City goalkeeper Tom Glover. The deadlock was eventually broken when Rhyan Grant of Sydney FC managed to rebound the ball of his chest and into the goal off a pass from Luke Brattan in the 100th minute. Controversially, Grant then covered his face with his shirt, an offence that the laws of the game require to be punished with a yellow card, one that would have seen him sent off for a second bookable offence. After the game the referees boss Strebre Delovski stated that doing so would have been "very harsh" as the reason for not doing so. More chances came and went however the match ended 1–0, with the regular season premiers prevailing for the fifth time, the most championships of any side in the history of Australia's top flight.[7] Meanwhile, the Joe Marston Medal was awarded to the only goalscorer on the night, Rhyan Grant.[8]

Details

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Sydney FC1–0 (a.e.t.)Melbourne City
Grant 100' Report
Attendance: 7,051
Referee: Chris Beath


Sydney FC
Melbourne City
GK 1 Australia Andrew Redmayne
RB 23 Australia Rhyan Grant Yellow card 97'
CB 4 Australia Alex Wilkinson (c)
CB 6 Australia Ryan McGowan
LB 16 Australia Joel King
RM 17 Australia Anthony Caceres downward-facing red arrow 87'
MF 8 Australia Paulo Retre Yellow card 53'
MF 26 Australia Luke Brattan
LM 10 Serbia Milos Ninkovic
CF 11 New Zealand Kosta Barbarouses downward-facing red arrow 87'
CF 26 England Adam Le Fondre
Substitutes:
GK 20 Australia Thomas Heward-Belle
DF 3 Australia Ben Warland
DF 21 Australia Harry Van Der Saag
MF 5 Germany Alexander Baumjohann upward-facing green arrow 87'
MF 19 Australia Chris Zuvela
FW 12 Australia Trent Buhagiar upward-facing green arrow 87'
FW 18 Australia Luke Ivanovic
Head coach:
Australia Steve Corica
GK 1 Australia Tom Glover
RB 4 Australia Harrison Delbridge downward-facing red arrow 72'
DF 40 Austria Richard Windbichler Yellow card 103' downward-facing red arrow 116'
DF 22 Australia Curtis Good
LB 13 Australia Nathaniel Atkinson Yellow card 117'
MF 20 Uruguay Adrián Luna downward-facing red arrow 106'
MF 6 Australia Joshua Brillante (c)
MF 8 France Florin Berenguer downward-facing red arrow 77'
RW 19 Australia Lachlan Wales downward-facing red arrow 86'
FW 9 Australia Jamie Maclaren
LW 11 England Craig Noone downward-facing red arrow 106'
Substitutes:
GK 46 Australia Joe Gauci
DF 2 Australia Scott Galloway upward-facing green arrow 72'
MF 7 Australia Rostyn Griffiths upward-facing green arrow 116'
MF 21 Australia Ramy Najjarine upward-facing green arrow 86'
MF 30 Australia Moudi Najjar upward-facing green arrow 106'
MF 34 Australia Connor Metcalfe upward-facing green arrow 77'
FW 49 Australia Stefan Colakovski upward-facing green arrow 106'
Head coach:
France Erick Mombaerts

Joe Marston Medal:
Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC)

Assistant referees:
Scott Edeling
Kearney Robinson
Fourth official:
Alex King
Fifth official:
Ryan Gallagher
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 five substitutions, and one additional substitute if extra time is played.

Statistics

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Overall statistics
Sydney FC Melbourne City
Goals scored 1 0
Total shots 15 20
Shots on target 10 8
Ball possession 48.1% 51.9%
Corner kicks 7 9
Fouls conceded 18 19
Offsides 1 1
Yellow cards 2 2
Red cards 0 0

Broadcasting

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The Grand Final was broadcast throughout Australia live on Fox Sports and delayed on ABC Me. The radio rights for the match were held by ABC Radio Grandstand as well as SEN & SWR Triple 9 FM.

It was also shown on ESPN+ in the United States, as a simulcast of the Fox Sports broadcast.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A-League to resume season with Melbourne Victory v Western United on July 16". ABC News. 16 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Sydney FC claim fifth A-League grand final". 7News. AAP. 30 August 2020.
  3. ^ "A-League heads to New South Wales 'hub' due to COVID-19 curbs". MSN News. Reuters. 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ "VAR to return for A-League finals at Bankwest Stadium". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Latest update on AFC Champions League". the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. 4 June 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Bankwest Stadium to host Hyundai A-League 2020 Finals Series". A-League. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. ^ "A-League final 2020: Sydney FC vs Melbourne City, score, result, video, highlights". Fox Sports. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ "A-League 2020 grand final: Sydney FC 1-0 Melbourne City (aet) – as it happened". The Guardian. 30 August 2020.
  1. ^ a b c d All Australian teams withdrew from the 2021 AFC Champions League on 4 June 2021.
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