A last-gasp penalty allowed Western Sydney Wanderers to salvage a dramatic 1-1 draw from a wasteful 10-man Melbourne Victory, condemning Tony Popovic’s side to a fourth consecutive Isuzu UTE A-League draw.
Jason Davidson’s incredible piledriver in the 91st minute, just two minutes after defender Roderick Miranda was sent off, looked set to deliver Victory three points at AAMI Park on Sunday.
But central defender Brendan Hamill gave away a poor handball penalty in the dying moments, with Steven Ugarkovic coolly converting for a 96th-minute equaliser.
Victory moved up to fourth in the standings amid their first run of four consecutive A-League Men draws since 2017, while Western Sydney sit 10th, four points outside the top six, but extended their unbeaten run to three, with goalkeeper Daniel Margush making several splendid save.
Popovic dropped Ivan Kelava for Matt Acton and the replacement goalkeeper saw Western Sydney’s Terry Antonis shoot wide in the opening minute but from there, Victory dominated most of the game without reward.
Francesco Margiotta spurned a golden chance in just the sixth minute, hitting a close-range effort straight at the excellent Daniel Margush, who made a reflex save.
In the ninth minute, Western Sydney’s Ramy Najjarine was forced off through a hamstring injury and went straight down the tunnel, replaced by Jarrod Carluccio.
Margush kept things level with a remarkable double save in the 53rd, denying Jason Geria then Marco Rojas in quick succession
Hamill just slid a header across the face of goal in the 78th minute and nine minutes later Lleyton Brooks teed up Chris Ikonomidis, but the Socceroo fired straight at Margush.
In the 89th, Miranda went studs-up through Carluccio and after a VAR review, referee Shaun Evans upgraded the card from yellow to red.
Suddenly up against it, Victory went ahead when Davidson and Jake Brimmer played a one-two at a corner and the full-back lashed home.
But five minutes later, Hamill was penalised for handballing while attempting to take possession, with Ugarkovic smashing home the spot-kick.
