Melbourne goal-scorer Tomislav Pondeljak (L) and captain Kevin Muscat celebrate with the A-League trophy after beating Adelaide in the grand final. Photo / Getty Images

Melbourne goal-scorer Tomislav Pondeljak (L) and captain Kevin Muscat celebrate with the A-League trophy after beating Adelaide in the grand final. Photo / Getty Images

MELBOURNE - A long-range Tom Pondeljak goal delivered Melbourne Victory their second A-League championship in a controversy-laden grand final against Adelaide United at Telstra Dome on Saturday night.

Adelaide played all but the first 10 minutes with 10 men, after Brazilian striker Cristiano was unlucky to be sent off for elbowing Victory defender Rody Vargas.

Melbourne also finished the game a man down, with striker Danny Allsopp ejected 20 minutes into an extremely spiteful second half, which delivered a constant stream of yellow cards.

Fortunately for Melbourne, Allsopp's send-off came minutes after they took the lead.

Pondeljak, finally on a winning A-League grand final side after two times as runner-up with Central Coast, threaded his right-footer through a crowded penalty area from about 20m in the 60th minute.

"I'm lost for words really, it's an unbelievable feeling," said Pondeljak, who was also awarded the Joe Marston Medal for player of the match.

"Adelaide came here to play tonight, they worked us hard and it just took a moment of something different I suppose."

The Reds, who came into the match as rank underdogs, had done superbly well to hold on as long as they did and had some good chances earlier in the half to position themselves for an incredible upset.

Already at the longest odds of any grand final side in the league's short history, they lengthened further with Cristiano's ejection.

The Brazilian drew blood from the side of Vargas' face, but appeared to have eyes for the ball as they contested a header, referee Matthew Breeze consulting with his sideline assistant before ordering him off.

Adelaide were forced to spend most of the rest of the half camped in their defensive area as they adjusted to the setback.

Even so, the normally potent Melbourne attack failed to cause the Reds' defence too many nervous moments.

The closest shave was when Victory striker Danny Allsopp forced a brilliant save from Adelaide goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic in the 27th minute.

Apart from that, the former Adelaide stopper had little to do as Adelaide's tightly-packed defence was able to ward off Melbourne's numerous attacking thrusts.