The result aside, Victory boss Kevin Muscat has some reasons to be cheerful, although his baleful presence in the post-match press conference on Saturday suggested his team had lost, not drawn the game 2-2, having twice come from behind.

Still, it must have felt like a loss in the Victory dressing rooms after Gui Finkler's exquisite chip, which struck the crossbar after beating Thomas Sorensen and then came down over the line, was not awarded despite replays clearly showing the ball had crossed the line.

Video adjudication and goal line technology would have clarified the issue instantly, but that does not exist in the A-League. Muscat and his team must hope that a top-two finish is not determined by the two points they lost on Saturday.

Even City coach John Van 't Schip concluded that everyone in the stadium knew it was a goal and that his team was lucky. But the referee and his officials have to make their decisions instantaneously and in real time, and, as Van 't Schip said, sometimes these things happen.

For Muscat there was plenty to like about the attitude and spirit his side showed in a fiercely competitive game which featured 10 bookings (one of which was a second yellow for Anthony Caceres, which led to the City midfielder's dismissal).

Six City names (including Caceres twice ) went into Beath's notebook, and four Victory ones. Half-a-dozen came inside 30 minutes, illustrating the combative nature of this cracking game. It was the third of three scintillating derbies this season which have produced scorelines of 3-2 in Victory's favour, 2-1 in City's and now 2-2. With 12 goals in three games, no one can say the rivalry is not intense and the fixtures don't provide value for money.

Muscat's criticism of the referees and the decision-making has been well-catalogued in the 24 hours since the game, his views on his side's performance less so. But he was in no doubt which was the better team on the night.

"I thought we controlled the game, we dictated terms in where we wanted the game to be played," he said. "We were disappointed the way we conceded a very soft goal from a set piece when we had a corner and had two bites at the tackle and don't deal with it.

"To go behind very soon after we get an equaliser ... the first goal, we were the team on the front foot ... I thought we were very good value. We have come away from that very disappointed that we didn't pick up extra points and that's been the story of our season really."

Fahid Ben Khalfallah has struggled for form this season but he delivered on Saturday with a terrific equaliser.

"It was outstanding ... his awareness to understand what was happening around him. The awareness was one thing, the execution was outstanding.

"We were much better [than City]. We were putting them under pressure, trying to win the ball in high areas which then gave them the option to try and play out or kick it long to a contest, so we forced quite a few turnovers.

"I felt we were in control. Up until they scored we were right on top of the game, then we had to fight our way back into the game."

Still, the defining moment of the match was the non-awarding of Finkler's goal - and Muscat makes no bones about his view of the referee's performance.

"If he is 18 yards away and can't see it is over the line we have got bigger issues," he said. "When you score more goals than the opposition you normally win.

"If we need goal line technology to see that one tonight we might as well get a robot as well.

"There were three big decisions and in my opinion they were all wrong.

"The goal was one, the penalty in the first half [for Victory striker Kosta Barbarouses,which was not given] and then 20 minutes into the second half when Kosta is brought down by Ben Garuccio," said Muscat who felt Garuccio should have been given a second yellow card which would have seen the City defender sent off.