Greece's Ioannis Maniatis and Australia's Tim Cahill have an exchange of opinions. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Greece went two goals up inside 21 minutes at a shocked Etihad Stadium and held on to record a much-deserved win despite Trent Sainsbury giving Australia hope in the 58th minute.

A fiery encounter that was a friendly in name only threatened to boil over several times.

But long after the reckless challenges and push and shoves are forgotten, the match will be remembered for Maniatis’ first international goal, one that rivals past inside-their-own-half strikes from the likes of David Beckham and Melbourne Heart’s Orlando Engelaar.

After Robbie Kruse sloppily gave away possession — symptomatic of the host’s early woes — Maniatis saw Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici off his line and attempted the most audacious of lobs while alongside the edge of the centre circle.

The defensive midfielder hit the 21st minute bomb perfectly, landing the ball virtually on the goal line, leaving Federici — who later voiced his displeasure at his bench while walking off at half time — totally stranded.

Goalkeeper Adam Federici chases the ball back towards his goal.Source:AAP

Australia’s next appointment is against Iraq at home on September 1, the start of the final round of 2018 World Cup qualifying.

And after last night’s display coach Ange Postecoglou will have plenty of food for thought, as his team was made to look second rate at times by the 2004 European champion.

Australia won the first game of this series 1-0 in Sydney on Saturday, but with the roof shut and the pitch slick there were no surface concerns for either side last night.

Postecoglou made seven changes to the starting line-up, introducing Federici, Alex Gersbach, Bailey Wright, Ryan McGowan, Tom Rogic, Mathew Leckie and Tim Cahill.

But it was the Greeks, who made five changes of their own, who clearly had the balance right as their application from the off was on another planet compared to the weekend.

In the first seven minutes the Socceroos couldn’t even get out of their own half, as Greece pressed high up the pitch.

And in the eighth minute the Ethniki got their reward — much to the delight of a hearty Greek fanbase.

Greece's Ioannis Maniatis and Australia's Tim Cahill have an exchange of opinions. Picture: George SalpigtidisSource:News Corp Australia

Apostolos Vellios dispossessed Mark Milligan in midfield, and while Postecoglou was filthy that no foul was given, play went on and Greece’s venomous counter ended with Andreas Samaris playing through Petros Mantalos for the opener.

The setback failed to raise the Socceroos from their slumber, as Maniatis made it two and then two minutes later Jose Cholebas almost made it three, but his lofted effort landed on the roof of Federici’s net.

In a rarity for a friendly, there were three yellow cards in the first half, with Leckie, Gersbach and Greece’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos all going in to the book.

The second half saw some improvement from the Socceroos, but until Sainsbury’s goal, a Cahill header from a corner was as close as Australia came to breaking its duck.

Aaron Mooy had plenty of set piece opportunities throughout the night and just before the hour mark the Aussies made one pay, with Sainsbury heading home from close range after Milligan’s initial header hit the crossbar.

But it wasn’t enough to prevent Australia’s first defeat on home soil since losing to South Korea in the group stage of last year’s Asian Cup.

GREECE 2 (Mantalos 8’, Maniatis 21’) def AUSTRALIA 1 (Sainsbury 58’)

At Etihad Stadium

Referee: Robert Madley

Crowd: 33,622

LINE-UPS

SOCCEROOS (4-3-3): Federici; Gersbach (Smith 66’), Sainsbury, Wright, McGowan (Degenek 66’); Milligan, Rogic, Mooy (Giannou 72’); Leckie (Ikonomidis 79’), Kruse (Burns 81’), Cahill.

GREECE (4-3-3): Kapino; Stafylidis, Tzavellas, Papastathopoulos, Torosidis; Maniatis (Tziolis 70’), Samaris, Mantalos; Vellios (Papazoglou 79’), Holebas (Christodoulopoulos 65’), Bakasetas.

WINDLEY’S MAN OF THE MATCH

Petros Mantalos (Greece)

Scored the first and proved to be a constant menace for the Socceroos defence.