Western Sydney Wanderers have missed out on the chance to close the gap on league leaders Brisbane Roar to two points after being held to a 1-1 draw by Melbourne Heart.

Wanderers had been hoping to take advantage of hosting the A-League's bottom side, but Heart put in a resilient performance to move up to ninth position.

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The home team had the better of the early exchanges, with Aaron Mooy dragging a shot wide of the post, but the visitors responded through Iain Ramsey, who saw a curling effort clawed away by Ante Covic.

Heart continued to establish themselves in the match, and they took the lead seven minutes before the break when David Williams's cross from the left evaded everyone and found its way into the far corner.

Western Sydney struck back just before half time when Mooy turned his marker before finishing confidently into the corner.

Wanderers pressed for a winning goal in the second half, with Mooy going close to adding to his tally, but Melbourne held firm to move off the bottom of the table, despite extending their winless run to 10 games.