{{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox football match | title = 2018 A-League Grand Final | image = | image_size = | event = [[2017–18 A-League]] | team1 = [[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] | team2 = [[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]] | team1score = 0 | team2score = 1 | details = | date = 5 May 2018 | stadium = [[Newcastle International Sports Centre|McDonald Jones Stadium]] | city = [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]] | man_of_the_match1a = [[Lawrence Thomas (footballer)|Lawrence Thomas]] | referee = [[Jarred Gillett]] | attendance = 29,410 | weather = | previous = [[2017 A-League Grand Final|2017]] | next = [[2019 A-League Grand Final|2019]] }}
The '''2018 A-League Grand Final''' was the thirteenth [[A-League]] [[Grand Final]], played on 5 May 2018. The match took place at [[Newcastle International Sports Centre|McDonald Jones Stadium]], with [[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] hosting [[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]], the first A-League grand final held outside a capital city.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/5369330/newcastle-jets-to-host-a-league-grand-final-after-victory-stun-sydney-fc/|title=Newcastle Jets to host A-League grand final after Victory stun Sydney FC|last=Gardiner|first=James|date=2018-04-29|work=Newcastle Herald|access-date=2018-04-30|language=en}}</ref>
[[Kosta Barbarouses]] scored the only goal of the game, in the 9th minute. It was a controversial goal, as replays showed that there was an offside offence in the lead up to the goal, but the [[Video Assistant Referee]] system had gone down for technical reasons and the goal was allowed to stand.
==Teams== ''In the following table, finals until 2004 were in the National Soccer League era, since 2006 were in the A-League era.''
{| class="wikitable" |- !Team !Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) |- |[[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] |1 ('''[[2008 A-League Grand Final|2008]]''') |- |[[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]] |5 ('''[[2007 A-League Grand Final|2007]]''', '''[[2009 A-League Grand Final|2009]]''', [[2010 A-League Grand Final|2010]], '''[[2015 A-League Grand Final|2015]]''', [[2017 A-League Grand Final|2017]]) |}
==Records== Kosta Barbarouses's 9th-minute goal was the fastest ever goal scored in an A-League Grand Final.<ref>{{cite web|title=A-League grand final: Melbourne Victory beat Newcastle Jets 1-0 to win fourth championship|work=ABC News |date=5 May 2018 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-05/melbourne-victory-beat-newcastle-jets-in-a-league-grand-final/9730796|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|accessdate=6 May 2018}}</ref>
Kosta Barbarouses's 9th-minute goal was the equal 3rd fastest goal ever scored in any previous National Soccer League Grand Final & A-League Grand Final history behind [[John Anastasiadis]] in 1998 for [[South Melbourne FC|South Melbourne]] against Carlton at Olympic Park, [[Mile Sterjovski]] in 1999 for [[Sydney United]] against South Melbourne at Olympic Park, and [[Mark Koussas]] in 1984 for [[Sydney Olympic]] against South Melbourne at Olympic Park.
Melbourne Victory became the first ever team to qualify for the A-League Grand Final from outside the top 3. With their win, the Victory became the first team in A-League history to win 4 championships, and the first team in A-League history to win the Championship from outside the top 2.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rosengarten|first1=Jake|title=Melbourne Victory's grand final win sees Melbourne City without an Asian Champions League spot|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/melbourne-victorys-grand-final-win-sees-melbourne-city-without-an-asian-champions-league-spot/news-story/a23dc5a6ea68feb53e323399d620ab1b?nk=1b3914e74327f5543c04f2ede1cf8774-1525604965|website=Fox Sports Australia|date=6 May 2018 |publisher=News Corp|accessdate=6 May 2018}}</ref>
Melbourne Victory also became the first team to win the championship from outside the top 2 positions after regular season since Adelaide City won the 1994 NSL Grand Final from 5th spot on the ladder and Melbourne Victory are only just the 9th team in history to win an away from home Grand Final in 34-year history of season deciders in NSL & A-League history and were just only the 7th team in history to win the NSL Grand Final & A-League Grand Final from outside the top 2 positions after regular season.
Melbourne Victory equal the record for most NSL & A-League championships on four titles along with Hakoah Sydney City (1977, 1980, 1981, 1982), Marconi Stallions (1979, 1988, 1989, 1993), and South Melbourne (1984, 1991, 1998, 1999).
The crowd of 29,410 was Newcastle's biggest ever home attendance.
==Video assistant referee (VAR) controversy== Kosta Barbarouses's goal in the 9th minute of the game came about via a header from [[James Donachie]], however Donachie was [[Offside (association football)|offside]] when [[Leroy George]] took the free kick which Donachie passed to Barbarouses. The game's [[video assistant referee]] (VAR) system failed to detect Donachie's offside position as its video feed had failed in the thirty seconds leading up to the goal. By the time the system was restored, the game had resumed, meaning the decision to allow the goal stood. The [[Football Federation Australia]] later acknowledged the technical issues, but offered no real apology to the Newcastle team or fans.<ref name="var">{{cite news|title=Major VAR glitch behind offside goal standing in A-League decider|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-06/ffa-reveal-reasons-behind-var-controversy-a-league-grand-final/9732640|accessdate=11 May 2018|work=ABC News|date=6 May 2018|language=en-AU}}</ref> It was discovered that the [[Video assistant referee|VAR]] system had lost access to the camera views which would have allowed for the offside ruling. The incident only happened once throughout the season. [[Football Australia|FFA]]'s Head of [[Hyundai Motor Company|Hyundai]] [[A-League]] and [[W-League (Australia)|Westfield W-League]], Greg O'Rourke, stated "This is important not just for the Hyundai A-League but for other leagues around the world and for the [[2018 FIFA World Cup]] in [[Russia]] at which VAR will be used for the first time."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.a-league.com.au/news/ffa-statement-relation-hyundai-a-league-2018-grand-final | title=FFA statement in relation to the Hyundai A-League 2018 Grand Final | date=6 May 2018 | website=a-league.com.au | accessdate=19 October 2022}}</ref>
==Roy O'Donovan== [[Roy O'Donovan]] was immediately issued a red card, and later on a 10 game ban, for the high kick he delivered against Victory goal keeper [[Lawrence Thomas (soccer)|Lawrence Thomas]]'s face in the 93rd minute of the final.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thenewdaily.com.au/sport/football/2018/05/05/a-league-grand-final-newcastle-melbourne/ | title=Victory's A-League grand final win marred by referee's shocking call | date=5 May 2018 | website=thenewdaily.com.au | accessdate=10 November 2022}}</ref>
Following the 3 days of deliberation after the hearing, the [[Football Australia|Football Federation Australia]]'s disciplinary and [[FIFA Ethics Committee|ethics committee]] decided on the harsh punishment for the [[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle]] striker. It is the second-biggest ban ever given in the [[A-League]], over the 8-game ban he had been given two years earlier for headbutting [[Wellington Phoenix FC|Wellington]]'s [[Manny Muscat]]. O'Donovan's representation agreed that his actions were "careless" but also argued that he had been playing the ball in desperation to score an equaliser in the game's final seconds. Arguments which the disciplinary committee dismissed, insisting that his intention was clearly to injure Thomas as he was rushing for the ball. Ivan Griscti, [[FIFA]]'s counsel, stated that "it does appear that the player is looking at the goalkeeper". O'Donovan attempted to plead his case via video link, stating that his vision at the time was blurred having been elbowed in the face from [[Besart Berisha]] only moments before, and that he had not realized that he had made contact with Thomas' head.<ref name="grand final">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/may/18/roy-odonovan-handed-10-game-ban-for-a-league-grand-final-assault | title=Roy O'Donovan handed 10-game ban for A-League grand final assault | date=18 May 2018 | website=theguardian.com | accessdate=10 November 2022}}</ref>
==Route to the final== {| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-right:20px; font-size:100%; text-align:center" ! {{Tooltip|Pos|Position}} ! Team ! {{Tooltip|Pts|Points}} |-bgcolor=#BBF3BB |1 |align=left|[[Sydney FC]] |64 |-bgcolor=#BBF3BB |2 |align=left|[[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] |50 |- |3 |align=left|[[Melbourne City FC|Melbourne City]] |43 |- |4 |align=left|[[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]] |41 |- |5 |align=left|[[Adelaide United FC|Adelaide United]] |39 |- |6 |align=left|[[Brisbane Roar FC|Brisbane Roar]] |35 |} {{See also|2017–18 A-League}}
{{6TeamBracket|seeds=no | RD1= Elimination-finals | RD2= Semi-finals | RD3= Grand Final
| RD1-team1 = '''[[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]]''' | RD1-score1 = 2 | RD1-team2 = [[Adelaide United FC|Adelaide United]] | RD1-score2 = 1
| RD1-team3 = '''[[Melbourne City FC|Melbourne City]]''' | RD1-score3 = 2 | RD1-team4 = [[Brisbane Roar FC|Brisbane Roar]] | RD1-score4 = 0
| RD2-team1 = [[Sydney FC]] | RD2-score1 =2 | RD2-team2 = '''[[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]]''' | RD2-score2 =3
| RD2-team3 = '''[[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]]''' | RD2-score3 = 2 | RD2-team4 = [[Melbourne City FC|Melbourne City]] | RD2-score4 = 1
| RD3-team1 = [[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] | RD3-score1 = 0 | RD3-team2 = '''[[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]]''' | RD3-score2 = '''1''' }}
<!-- ==Pre-match== 1) Stadium 2) Referee/s selection 3) Ticket details in week of Final -->
==Match== ===Details=== <onlyinclude>{{football box | date = 5 May 2018 | time = 19:50 [[Time in Australia|AEST]] | team1 = [[Newcastle Jets FC|Newcastle Jets]] | score1 = | score2 = | score = 0–1 | report = Reports<ref>{{cite web |title=A-Leagues |url=https://www.a-league.com.au/match/newcastle-jets-v-melbourne-victory-a-league-05-05-2018/982838 |website=KEEPUP |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> | team2 = [[Melbourne Victory FC|Melbourne Victory]] | goals1 = | goals2 = * [[Kosta Barbarouses|Barbarouses]] {{goal|9}} | location = [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]] | stadium = [[Newcastle International Sports Centre|McDonald Jones Stadium]] | attendance = 29,410 | referee = [[Jarred Gillett]] }}</onlyinclude>
{| width=92% | |- |{{Football kit | pattern_la = _nujfc1718h | pattern_b = _nujfc1718h | pattern_ra = _nujfc1718h | pattern_sh = _nujfc1718h | pattern_so = _nujfc1718h | leftarm = FFFFFF | body = FFFFFF | rightarm = FFFFFF | shorts = FFFFFF | socks = 0000FF |title = Newcastle Jets }} |{{Football kit | pattern_la = _victory1718a | pattern_b = _melbvic1718a | pattern_ra = _victory1718a | pattern_sh = _adidasonwhite | pattern_so = _color_3_stripes_on_white |leftarm = 05093F |body = |rightarm = 05093F |shorts = 05093F |socks = 05093F |title = Melbourne Victory }} |}
{| style="width:100%" |- |style="vertical-align:top; width:40%"| {| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- |- |GK||'''20'''||{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Glen Moss]] |- |RB||'''17'''||{{flagicon|MKD}} [[Daniel Georgievski]]||{{yel|51}}||{{suboff|74}} |- |CB||'''4'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Nigel Boogaard]] |- |CB||'''44'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Nikolai Topor-Stanley]] |- |LB||'''18'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[John Koutroumbis]] |- |CM||'''27'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Riley McGree]] |- |CM||'''6'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Steven Ugarkovic]] |- |CM||'''8'''||{{flagicon|VEN}} [[Ronald Vargas]]||||{{suboff|65}} |- |RW||'''3'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Jason Hoffman]]||{{yel|90+1}} |- |CF||'''9'''||{{flagicon|IRL}} [[Roy O'Donovan]]||{{sentoff|0|90+3}} |- |LW||'''7'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Dimitri Petratos]] |- |colspan=3|'''Substitutes:''' |- |GK||'''30'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Ivan Necevski]] |- |DF||'''22'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Lachlan Jackson]] |- |DF||'''16'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Nick Cowburn]] |- |FW||'''11'''||{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Patito Rodríguez]]||||{{subon|74}}|| |- |FW||'''24'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Joe Champness]]||||{{subon|65}}|| |- |colspan=3|'''Manager:''' {{flagicon|SCO}} [[Ernie Merrick]] |- |colspan=4| |} |valign="top"| |style="vertical-align:top; width:50%"| {| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font-size:90%; margin:auto" |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- |GK||'''20'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Lawrence Thomas (footballer)|Lawrence Thomas]] |- |RB||'''22'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Stefan Nigro]]||||{{suboff|77}} |- |CB||'''17'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[James Donachie]] |- |CB||'''14'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Thomas Deng]] |- |LB||'''6'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Leigh Broxham]] |- |DM||'''21'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Carl Valeri]] ([[Captain (association football)|c]]) |- |DM||'''24'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Terry Antonis]] |- |RM||'''9'''||{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Kosta Barbarouses]] |- |AM||'''10'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[James Troisi]] |- |LM||'''41'''||{{flagicon|NED}} [[Leroy George]] |- |CF||'''8'''||{{flagicon|KVX}} [[Besart Berisha]] |- |colspan=3|'''Substitutes:''' |- |GK||'''1'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Matt Acton]] |- |MF||'''16'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Joshua Hope]] |- |MF||'''18'''||{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Matías Sánchez (footballer, born 1987)|Matías Sánchez]]||{{yel|90+2}}||{{subon|77}} |- |FW||'''23'''||{{flagicon|NZL}} [[Jai Ingham]] |- |FW||'''7'''||{{flagicon|AUS}} [[Kenny Athiu]] |- |colspan=3|'''Manager:''' {{flagicon|AUS}} [[Kevin Muscat]] |- |colspan=4| |} |} {| style="width:100%; font-size:90%" | '''[[Joe Marston Medal]]:''' <br>[[Lawrence Thomas (footballer)|Lawrence Thomas]]
'''[[Assistant referee (association football)|Assistant referees]]:''' <br />[[Matthew Cream]] <br />[[Paul Cetrangolo]] <br />'''[[Assistant referee (association football)#Fourth official|Fourth official]]:''' <br />Kurt Ams |style="width:60%; vertical-align:top"| '''Match rules''' *90 minutes. *30 minutes of [[Overtime (sports)#Association football|extra time]] if necessary. *[[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|Penalty shoot-out]] if scores still level. *Five named substitutes. *Maximum of three substitutions. |}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; width: 20%" |- !A-League<br />2018 Champions |- |{{flagicon|Australia|size=100px}} |- |'''Melbourne Victory'''<br />'''Fourth Title''' |}
===Statistics=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+Overall statistics<ref>{{cite web|title=Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory|url=https://www.a-league.com.au/match/newcastle-jets-v-melbourne-victory-a-league-05-05-2018/982838#!/stats|website=A-League|accessdate=5 May 2018}}</ref> |- !width=100| !width=80 | Newcastle Jets !width=80 | Melbourne Victory |- |Goals scored || 0 || 1 |- |Total shots || 14 || 7 |- |Shots on target || 4 || 2 |- |{{nowrap|Ball possession}} || 58.3% || 41.7% |- |Corner kicks || 4 || 5 |- |Fouls Conceded|| 12 || 17 |- |Offsides || 1 || 2 |- |Yellow cards || 2 || 1 |- |Red cards || 1 || 0 |}
==Broadcasting== The Grand Final was broadcast live throughout Australia on [[Fox Sports Australia|Fox Sports]] and [[Network Ten]].<ref name="a-league1">{{cite web|title=New TV deal for Football|url=http://www.a-league.com.au/article/new-tv-deal-for-football/6phf6g6mrfew1m28c535u1f42|website=Hyundai A-League|publisher=Football Federation Australia|accessdate=2 June 2017}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|New South Wales}} * [[2017–18 A-League]] * [[2018 A-League finals series]] * [[List of A-League honours]]
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * [http://www.a-league.com.au/ Official A-League Website]
{{A-League Grand Finals}} {{2017–18 in Australian soccer}} {{Newcastle Jets FC matches}} {{Melbourne Victory FC matches}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:A-League Grand Final}} [[Category:2017–18 A-League|Grand Final]] [[Category:A-League Men Grand Finals|2018]] [[Category:Newcastle Jets FC matches]] [[Category:Melbourne Victory FC matches]] [[Category:2018 in New South Wales]] [[Category:Soccer in Newcastle, New South Wales]] [[Category:2018 controversies]] [[Category:Association football controversies]] [[Category:Sports scandals in Australia]] [[Category:May 2018 sports events in Australia]]