Victory had to play with 10 men for more than an hour after Mitch Austin was hit with a second yellow by referee Peter Green for obstructing a free kick.

The home side took the blow in their stride and pulled off a 1-1 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers at Etihad Stadium.

But the Victory boss didn’t hide his frustration post-match, saying it was the first game of the season “reffed to the letter of the law”.

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“I just want the rules to be the same for everyone, every week and every game,” Muscat said.

“The players don’t know… and I’m not defending Mitch because after the booking you run the risk there if you stick your leg out.

“But tonight, a throw-in goes out every other game, you can take it from five or 10 yards further up the park.

“Tonight, it’s got to be where the ball went out which are the rules, but other times there is discretion taken.”

Victory were a man and a goal down after Oriol Riera scored on 32 minutes. But they survived a spot kick and equalised through Thomas Deng to take a share of the spoils.

Later, Muscat took aim at the officiating.

 “The difference in refereeing from one week to the other (means) the players don’t know where they stand,” he said.

“There’s also a rule whether the keeper can only hold the ball for six seconds, but they’re using discretion on that one.

“If you haven’t got a free kick, if you delay the start for holding the ball, it’s a booking. Tonight was the first time I’ve seen it all season.  Five rounds in and Leroy (George) gets booked for holding the ball.”

Wanderers should have been 2-0 going into the break after Rhys Williams was adjudged to have taken down Jumpei Kusukami in the penalty area.

Williams received a yellow card, but the penalty kick was delayed while the incident was referred to the VAR. Minutes later Riera’s spot kick was saved by goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.

Muscat felt the penalty “was soft”.

“Jumpei’s clever play - he comes inside and Rhys is pulling his leg away and he realises he can’t get to the ball,” he said.

“Does he encourage the contact? Was there contact?

“I know one thing, he was not going to get to the ball… I’m not saying you can just take someone’s legs from beneath them, but was there seriously enough contact when you’re not going to get to the ball to be awarded a penalty?”

Muscat called on referee boss Ben Wilson “to come out” and clarify inconsistencies.

“Even with the VAR, it’s not black and white,“  he added.

“There’s still some discretion and ultimately the only thing the VAR can determine there is whether there was contact or not.”

Wanderers interim coach Hayden Foxe, in his last game at the helm before Josep Gombau takes over, said everyone simply had to deal with it, although he felt the video referrals interrupted play far too often.

“It’s trying to improve the game and decisions,” Foxe said.

“If it helps with the decisions and (making the) right decisions, then it’s great.

“It takes a long time, three minutes, they’ve got to sort that out, it’s ridiculous and it’s happening week in and out.”