Both sides had goals disallowed for offside in a match where the entertainment value was probably not reflected in the goalless scoreline.

In the space of four second-half minutes, John Aloisi put the ball in the net for Heart while Mark Bridge did the same for Sydney, but the linesman's flag denied them both.

The other crucial points came with two acts of desperation in either half from the respective sides.

Simon Colosimo pulled off a spectacular goal-line clearance early in the game for the hosts, while a superbly timed sliding tackle from Sturt Musialik on 72 minutes thwarted Aloisi's chance to be a hero.

Sydney defender Sung-Hwan Byun was sent off, but his departure was too late to affect the result.

Heart had the better chances for the game and should have really come away with the points, with 17 shots to nine. But the result at least breaks a run of three losses and keeps them in fifth ahead of next Sunday's clash with Gold Coast.

Sydney did not bring their best football with them on their first-ever trip to AAMI Park, but some reasonably strong defence ensured they departed with something for their efforts and they have now gone four games without defeat.

They move above Perth on the table and into ninth, four points out of the finals race ahead of Wednesday's clash with Wellington at home.

Melbourne Heart 0
Sydney FC 0
Crowd: 5,128 @ AAMI Park