As you’d expect from Melbourne’s traditional big guns, Kevin Muscat’s men fired from the hip from the get-go.

They propelled Jason Geria forward to exploit Scott Jamieson’s left-side, almost punishing City through a guilt-edged attempt from Leroy George, which rocketed off the crossbar.

 

Not even German legend Rudi Voller could inspire a finishing touch from Melbourne’s forward line.

 

As the match wore on, City worked their way into the ascendancy, and not for the first time this season, frantic attacking quickly became desperation defending for Victory. Lawrence Thomas the unlikely hero on multiple occasions. 

But there's always late drama in a derby, there just has to be. It came in the form of Dean Bouzanis, who unceremoniously jumped upon Mark Milligan in the 95th minute, and paid the price when Millsy calmly converted the resulting penalty.

Victory's win moves them up to fourth in the table, only three points behind City. It's a very Merry Christmas for those in dark blue, but it might take a few eggnogs for Warren Joyce to get over this one. 

Derby hero Milligan remained serene after scoring the winner.

"After the start to the season we've had, tonight was very important," Milligan said. "Tonight it was about more than just the derby, due to our position on the table."

Victory coach Kevin Muscat was equally restrained in his post-match comments.

"To be that aggressive in our pressure, I thought we were the proactive team tonight and more often than not, if you're proactive you’ll get your reward," Muscat said.

"It’s about discipline, I thought our discipline, while aggressive, was fantastic tonight.

"In the end I knew we were going to get a penalty. It’s away from home on paper but we share the stadium, and the atmosphere was amazing tonight.

"Derbies are about the fans and our members, we certainly gave our fans something to sing about and they can enjoy their Christmas’ now."