Controversial goal marks opening of Melbourne derby

Sporting derbies are spicy at the best of times, but a controversial early goal to Melbourne City set the tone for a heated FFA Cup semi-final against Melbourne Victory.

The flash-point came in just the ninth minute of the clash at AAMI Park, when Luke Brattan’s shot fizzed past teammate Tim Cahill’s head and into the Victory goal.

The referee initially blew his whistle to award the goal but the linesman intervened to rule that Cahill was offside and in goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas’s line of vision – rendering the goal illegal.

City’s players had already started celebrating only to realise that the goal was about to be disallowed, however, there was one final twist.

Following a short discussion with his linesman, the referee came to the conclusion that despite being offside, Cahill hadn’t obstructed the goalkeeper and to the dismay of the Victory players, awarded the goal.