MELBOURNE Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic has labelled referee Ben Williams' decision to send off Matthew Foschini in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Brisbane Roar as “unacceptable”.
Victory, who were already down to 10 men following keeper Ante Covic's second minute red card, were further reduced when Foschini received his marching orders from Williams for a lunging tackle on Thomas Broich after 37 minutes.
“Maybe Ante was a red card but with Foschini I thought it was absolutely unacceptable,” Durakovic told Fox Sports.
“We had 25,000 people here tonight and to have something like that happen, what do you do?”
He added: “I just think Foschini's tackle wasn't that bad.”
However, Durakovic was full of praise for his side's performance in holding out the champions despite their hefty numerical disadvantage.
“I've been involved for a long time in football and that was probably the best I've ever seen a team perform,” Durakovic said.
“It was a magnificent effort from all the boys. I'm thoroughly excited by the way they played. The encouragement was unbelievable, the determination was unbelievable and the spirit was a different class.”
He added: “Very proud of all the boys. The whole defensive line played well, the midfield played well, Archie played well and Harry Kewell played well, so I'm really happy with all their performances tonight.”
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