Tom Pondeljak scored in the 60th minute Saturday to give the Melbourne Victory a 1-0 win over Adelaide United in Australia's A-League grand final championship match.
More than 55,000 attended the final at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.
Adelaide played most of the match a man down. Brazilian striker Cristiano was sent off in the 10th minute, red-carded after elbowing Victory defender Rody Vargas in the side of the head as the pair were contesting a header.
Vargas lay on the ground bleeding after the incident, as referee Matthew Breeze consulted with an assistant referee before pulling out the red card.
Melbourne also finished the game a man down, with striker Danny Allsopp ejected 20 minutes into a spiteful second half which produced a constant stream of yellow cards.
Pondeljak, finally winning an A-League grand final after twice being a runner-up with Central Coast, threaded his right-footer through a crowded penalty area from about 20 meters.
"I'm lost for words really, it's an unbelievable feeling," said Pondeljak, who was also awarded the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match.
"Adelaide came here to play tonight, they worked us hard and it just took a moment of something different I suppose."
Melbourne's win made it the first team to win two A-League championships, with six members of Saturday's victorious team also having taken part in the 6-0 grand final win over Adelaide in 2007.
"It was by no means an easy game tonight but I can't speak highly enough of the boys because, with all the talk during the week, we've actually stood up and walked the walk," Victory captain Kevin Muscat said.
"It was a great performance. Adelaide were great, they pushed us right to the death, but we deserved it."
