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After a week of epic footballing comebacks, Sydney FC has served up a Big Blue belting, smashing Melbourne Victory 6-1 to march into next weekend's A-League grand final.
- In a result that no-one saw coming, Sydney FC's Adam Le Fondre (twice), Aaron Calver, Alex Brosque and Milos Ninkovic all score
- Sydney FC's 6-1 win over the Victory sets up a grand final date with Perth Glory in Perth
- The result was Sydney FC's biggest-ever win in A-League finals history, and also the Victory's worst loss
Aaron Calver, Alex Brosque and an own goal from Leigh Broxham gave Steve Corica's side a three-goal lead on Sunday night at halftime, before Adam Le Fondre bagged a double to humiliate Kevin Muscat's side.
Milos Ninkovic's late effort made it six, before Ola Toivonen's last-minute header at least put Victory on the board.
In the 50th meeting of Australia's biggest football clubs, only one came to play.
Sydney FC was impressive across its entire line-up from the first minute to the last. For that, the reward is rich.
The Sky Blues will play Perth for the 2018/19 championship in a much-anticipated decider on Sunday at Perth Stadium.
The magnitude of their success ensures they'll travel west with a full head of steam.
This was Sydney FC's biggest finals win, Victory's biggest loss, and a result no one saw coming.
The rout began in the third minute, when the hero of last year's grand final, Lawrence Thomas, put his side on the back foot.
Under minimal attention from Calver, the Victory gloveman dropped a corner from Brandon O'Neill off the defender and into the net.
Rampaging full-back Rhyan Grant's cross was missed by Victory's defence on 43 minutes, allowing Brosque to lash a sweet volley for Sydney's second.
Worse was to come for Victory, with Broxham heading into his own goal from Siem de Jong's wicked cross with just seconds before halftime.
Defender Thomas Deng was hooked for striker Kenny Athiu after 55 minutes as Kevin Muscat looked for a foothold into the match.
The closest they came was a penalty shout soon after, when Calver brought Athiu to ground in the box, only for Chris Beath to wave it away.
Playing with three at the back, Victory were always susceptible to further punishment, and it came after 62 minutes when Georg Niedermeier's amateur tackle took Le Fondre to the spot.
He converted that and scored five minutes later from another breakaway effort as Sydney ran riot.
Sky Blue favourite Ninkovic looked to have had the final word with his 88th-minute goal, only for Toivonen to score a header amid Bronx cheers.
AAP
Topics: a-league, soccer, sport, sydney-2000, kogarah-2217, nsw, australia, melbourne-3000, vic