Melbourne Victory have dealt with the absence of six key players, earning a hard-fought point away to Sydney FC.
Despite having multiple chances to score in the opening period, the visitors would leave Allianz Stadium the happier of the two sides following a scoreless draw.
In a positive opening to the game, Melbourne took just five minutes to find the back of the net – only to be denied by the linesman.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah pounced on a Sasa Ognenovski slip-up and found himself one-on-one with Vedran Janjetovic, only to lay it off to Besart Berisha who was in an offside position for the goal.
Sydney equalised with an offside goal of their own when Milos Dimiteijevic floated in a dangerous cross to find Sasa Ognenovski in the box.
Archie Thompson was a constant threat with his diagonal runs, and the number 10 had a golden opportunity in the 21st minute in a one-on-one situation with Janjetovic, but the ‘keeper pulled off a top save to stop the Victory striker.
Victory didn’t have it all their way, with Alex Brosque missing Sydney’s best chance of the half when a Dimitrijevic pass found him with only Nathan Coe to beat.
Khalfallah had the last and best chance of the first period when he received a Berisha pass on the break, but was also denied by a determined Janjetovic.
The second half started with less flair than the first, though Sydney came close to scoring when Dimitrijevic drilled a curling free kick into the crossbar.
Shane Smeltz had the best chance to break the deadlock as Sydney continued to press, rising to meet a pinpoint Bernie Ibini cross, but Coe was up to the task to keep the scores level.
Chances were few and far between for the remainder of the half, with tempers beginning flaring late in one of the A-league’s biggest rivalries.
In the end, both rivals had to settle for a nil-all draw as the scoreless but also entertaining Big Blue came to a close.
Sydney FC 0 drew with Melbourne Victory 0 at Allianz Stadium
Melbourne Victory: 1.Nathan COE (GK), 6.Leigh BROXHAM (c), 7.Gui FINKLER (13.Andrew NABBOUT 79′), 8.Besart BERISHA, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH (31. Kieran Dover 90+3′), 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 18.Dylan MURNANE, 21.Carl VALERI, 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 23.Adrian LEIJER, , 31.Kieran DOVER, 32.Milos RIDESIC
Unused Subs: 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 26.Jordan BROWN
Yellow Cards: Murnane 64′
Red Cards: None
Sydney FC: 2.Sebastian RYALL (4.Pedj BOJIC) , 3.Sasa OGNENOVSKI, 6.Nikola PETKOVIC, 8.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.Shane SMELTZ, 11.Bernie IBINI, 12.Hagi GLIGOR (16.Alex GERSBACH 46′) , 13.Christopher NAUMOFF (18.Peter TRIANTIS 46′), 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 20.Vedran JANJETOVIC (GK), 22.Ali ABBAS
Unused Subs: 1.Ivan NECEVSKI (GK), 19.Nick CARLE
Yellow Cards: Ryall 62′, Triantis 82′
Red Cards: None