Berisha under scrutiny for shoving match official

Melbourne Victory striker Besart Berisha has found himself in hot water once more after angrily pushing a match official in the 2-2 draw with Adelaide.

United midfielder Vince Lia stole the show at Adelaide Oval with a classy double in between goals from Berisha and Mitch Austin, who levelled with eight minutes remaining.

Perhaps the biggest talking point came in the 47th minute though, when Berisha clashed with Adelaide's Jordan Elsey and tempers flared on both sides.

Berisha bundled Elsey to the ground, before a war of words broke out between the pair and the fourth official stepped in to pull them apart.

However, as the Albanian was being walked away by the referee's assistant, he lashed out in frustration by pushing the official in the opposite direction.

Berisha could consider himself fortunate to escape with a yellow card, with players often sent off for touching match officials.

"He's extremely lucky, this is why. He has got no rights to put his hand on the fourth official," former Adelaide coach John Kosmina said on Fox Sports' coverage at half time.

"Look, it wasn't aggressive and in his defence the fourth official was escorting him away but Bes(art) still didn't need to do that."

Football Federation Australia is looking into the incident but it was later confirmed that Berisha's yellow card was for the push on the official, meaning the the Victory striker could escape further punishment.

"I think he was (very lucky) in the first instance but I think because the yellow card has been awarded, I think (reviewing it would mean) they're going to punish him twice," Kosmina said.

"Now look, the fourth official's got his hands on him there, Bes is a little bit aggressive with that, he shouldn't have done that – and to the letter of the law, it should have been a red card."

Victory started the better of the two sides as the Reds continued their trend of tame openings.

Berisha broke the deadlock on 13 minutes with a powerful header after a pinpoint cross from a Leroy George free-kick.

Tensions escalated seven minutes later when Rhys Williams tangled with Ben Garuccio behind play before wrestling Reds skipper Isaias to the ground.

The stopper somehow escaped sanction from referee Shaun Evans, despite the incident attracting the attention of the video assistant referee, but the tussle sparked United into action.

Foundation Victory midfielder Lia restored parity on 23 minutes with a venomous half-volley from the edge of the area when Johan Absalonsen laid off after a cross from Michael Marrone.

After the equaliser, United gained control and carved out some half chances before George Blackwood almost put Adelaide ahead on the stroke of halftime.

Absalonsen was again involved, setting up Blackwood, but his effort from 12 metres was thwarted by some desperate Melbourne defending.

Early in the second half, neither side was able to create any real chances until Lia doubled his tally.

The midfielder found the net with a first-time strike from 20 metres with Absalonsen again the provider.

Victory lifted after conceding and battled hard to level the scores through substitute Austin.

With his back to goal, Berisha's shot on the turn was blocked and the rebound fell nicely for the Melbourne winger. He managed to direct his shot through a number of bodies in the penalty area.

United had legitimate claims for a penalty on 90 minutes when Absalonsen's cross appeared to strike full-back Jason Geria's arm.

Adelaide United coach Marco Kurz was pleased with the Reds effort and felt the draw was a fair result.

"I'm not unhappy with the game, with the performance from my team," he said.

'I think the draw is a good result for both teams."

However, Victory coach Kevin Muscat thought his side should have taken all three points.

"Overall I thought we played some really good stuff," he said.

"I thought we were very good value."