Harry Novillo has extended Melbourne City's unbeaten run to four games by salvaging a 1-1 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers at the Pirtek Stadium.
The Wanderers looked the more likely to open the scoring, but neither side posed much of a threat in the early stages of the first half.
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The controversial moment of the match came when Kew Jaliens tripped Nikita Rukavytsya as he appeared to be through on goal, but the referee brandished a yellow card instead of a red.
The Wanderers soon forgot about the lenient punishment when Yojiro Takahagi curled the free kick around the wall and into the back of the net.
The home side dominated proceedings from then on, but they were dealt a blow from an individual piece of brilliance from Novillo.
The Frenchman cut inside and unleashed a powerful shot from in the box, which flew past the goalkeeper and into the net.
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Tomi Juric had a chance to give the Wanderers the lead before the half-time whistle when he spotted Tando Velaphi off his line, but his long-range effort missed the target.
After the break, it was end-to-end action, and Robert Koren came close to scoring a second for City with a thumping shot, but his dipping attempt forced Dean Bouzanis to tip the ball just over the bar.
Yojiro unleashed a similar effort at the other end of the field when he received the ball in the box, but a crucial save from Velaphi prevented Wanderers from taking the lead once again.
City had to hold their breath in the closing stages when Romeo Castelen found space and drove into the box, but Jaliens timed his tackle perfectly to deny the Wanderers forward from taking a shot.
Both sides had chances to get the winner, but it wasn't to be as they were forced to share the spoils.
Danielle Joynson
