Victory had the better of their season opener at Adelaide Oval on Friday night, "scored" a disallowed goal and survived the sending off of Leigh Broxham.

But they could not repeat the Cup result as the clash between two of the competition's greatest rivals petered out into a scoreless draw, Danny Vukovic's late stop from Sergio Cirio preserving a point for the visitors in the dying moments

It is part of the culture that Kevin Muscat has instilled in the champions that while they respect opponents they never fear them, and that every game, home or away, is a potential three points.

Within the first four minutes centre-back Matthieu Delpierre had embarked on a surging dribble out of defence while Fahid Ben Khallfallah had won two corners in quick succession.

From one of those, a well-worked short ball from Gui Finkler to Oliver Bozanic, Victory could well have taken the lead. Bozanic's run from deep caught the Adelaide defence daydreaming but the new signing blasted over the bar.

Carl Valeri's absence — the Victory skipper injured a knee in training late in the week — gave Rashid Mahazi a chance to start, but the visitors' midfield lost nothing in workrate or bite with the latter's inclusion. Adelaide were also missing key players with Eugene Galekovic and Tarek Elrich, away on Socceroos duty.

Up front, Kosta Barbarouses, Besart Berisha and Ben Khallfallah looked to move the ball with pace while the midfielders pressed in the forward third, leaving the Reds unable to play out from the back. For the hosts in the early stages there were too many aimless clearances or passes that failed to meet targets.

Still, Adelaide did manage to cause some problems, with Sergio Cirio getting free wide on the left to float over a cross that debutant Mate Dugandzic could not touch.

Michael Marrone went into Peter Green's notebook for a foul on Ben Khalfallah while Barbarouses was scythed down after a jinking run down the right. Adelaide's Spanish midfielder Isiais also went into the notebook shortly after.

Berisha should have given the navy blues the lead in the 22nd minute when he sprang the Reds defensive line after being played through by Ben Khalfallah.

But his touch was uncharacteristically heavy and, instead of controlling the ball, it spun harmlessly through to goalkeeper John Hall, a youngster making his starting debut in place of club captain Galekovic.

Adelaide could themselves have taken the lead a moment later when Eli Babalj's drive deflected wide of Danny Vukovic but past the post.

Hall showed his lack of experience when he charged out to claim a cross but was left in no-man's land: luckily for him, Berisha could not direct the ball past him into the unguarded net.

Gui Finkler came closest to breaking the first-half deadlock with a low shot from distance that beat Hall but deviated just wide of the post at the last moment.

Kosta Barbarouses went close shortly after the restart with a shot that Hall deflected for a corner, and did have the ball in the net in the 56th minute only to be ruled offside. In between Marcelo Carrusca's pressure had seen him rob Dylan Murnane and fire over a cross which Babalj could not convert.

Barbarouses was unlucky when his shot from distance beat Hall but cannoned off the post in the 56th minute. Berisha was then denied by a desperate Osama Malik challenge just on the hour.

Victory's fluidity and movement made them dangerous every time they attacked  as they were able to get in behind the Reds rearguard. Finkler found space to fire in a shot that Hall did well to palm away, while former Victory man Jimmy Jeggo drove over from the edge of the area at the other end.

The complexion of the game changed dramatically with 18 minutes left when Broxham was given what looked like a soft yellow card, his second of the game. Victory dug in and got the point they would have regarded as the minimum aim from this match.