The Sky Blues trail 2-1 after the first leg in Melbourne, with goals from Nik Mrdja and Carlos Hernandez before a shot from John Aloisi deflected off Kevin Muscat and into the net.

But Mrdja was later dismissed for an elbow to the face of Sydney defender Shannon Cole midway through the second half, leaving Victory short of attack from the second leg.

Sydey admitted they were unhappy to leave Melbourne with a one goal deficit - but were relishing the prospect of the second leg if they could get a big crowd to back them at SYdney Football Stadium.

"We are disappointed in this moment but there are plenty of positives to take from this match,"  said coach Vitezslav Lavicka said.

"There has only been one leg, there is still one more to go now back in Sydney. We got an important goal through John Aloisi. It will be a big game in Sydney.

"We hope for same crowd, same atmosphere as last time we played at home. We will have recovery for few days but we will be ready for the next game."

Stand-in skipper John Aloisi - replacing the injured and retiring Steve Corica - was confident his side can overcome the scoreline to book their place in the grand final with a home venue.

"We are confident," Aloisi said.  "We are pretty good at home and we reckon we can win.

"The away goal helps us a little bit and we just have to win at home. It's not a bad result."