Kwasnik was given his second yellow on 53 minutes, five minutes after the Mariners had hit the lead, before Victory scored two late goals as their pressure against ten men told.

The Mariners marksman was sent off for abusing referee Ben Williams in response to his decision not to award a free-kick to Central Coast following contact between Kwasnik and Kevin Muscat.

Wilkinson told FoxSports after the game it was a very frustrating defeat after the red which changed the game.

"First-half we played well, kept the ball well, probably could have been two or three up by half-time if it wasn't for Petka," he said.

"Second-half we dominated again, scored the early goal, from there I thought there was only one team in it.

"Then obviously the send off which I'm not too sure what it was for yet, I thought it was a foul by Muskie. But what do you do? That's changed the game.

"A mobile team like Melbourne it's very hard to defend with ten men. Credit to the boys, we deserved more than we got today."

Despite the defeat, Wilkinson said the third-placed Mariners could still clinch second spot on the table.

"Definitely, I think so," he said. "We've got a couple of games on Adelaide still. That's what we're going for. We've got two more home games against Wellington and Brisbane and we'll be looking to bounce back and win those two."

Victory star Robbie Kruse admitted his side's performance wasn't ideal but was rapt to claim another win as they move onto 32 points.

"The performance wasn't the best but another win, that's four in a row for us and unbeaten in seven, so we're going on a good run now," he said.

He added: "When they went down a man, we had a lot of the ball, but they were very compact and they defended well.

"It was tough to get past and there wasn't a lot of room for our strikers but we got the win which is the main thing."

Victory's next match is away to Wellington Phoenix on Wednesday, while the Mariners are at home to Wellington on Sunday week.