A thrilling A-League encounter between Melbourne Heart and Wellington Phoenix on Sunday produced four goals, endless talking points and a 2-2 draw that did very little good to the playoff hopes of either side.
Wellington led twice through a first-ever A-League goal from Fijian international Roy Krishna and another from his strike partner Tyler Boyd and were unlucky to be denied a penalty when a goalbound effort from Boyd struck Heart defender Patrick Kisnorbo's arm.
The visitors also had to play the last hour of the match at AAMI Park a man down after Ben Sigmund was sent off for accruing two yellow cards in as many minutes.
The Heart equalised on both occasions through Jonatan Germano and a penalty from David Williams and had the bulk of the chances to claim a late winner.
The stalemate left Wellington in eighth place on 28 points with four rounds remaining, three points clear of the ninth-placed Heart.
Either team could still sneak into sixth spot - currently held by Adelaide on 31 - but would need plenty to go their way in the next four weeks.
"The send-off, handball, no handball and it was a very strange game at the end, with a few decisions which were difficult also maybe for the referee," said Heart coach John van 't Schip, who has seen his surging team claim 20 of a possible 27 points since he replaced John Aloisi at the helm.
"In the end we thought with all the possession and the opportunities we created or went near to creating we should of course have got the three points.
"That's why it was disappointing.
"Mathematically we are still in the race, but it's very difficult."
The Heart will almost certainly need to win all four of their remaining games to have a genuine chance of sneaking into the playoffs.
Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick believes three more victories should be enough for his team, especially as they play three of the other clubs around them on the table - Newcastle, Adelaide and Sydney FC - in the concluding month of the home and away campaign.
"Results are never fair, but you get what you fight for," said Merrick.
"We fought for it, we got a draw, if we'd had 11 players on the field I had a good feeling today about getting a win.
"When any team goes down to 10 players it doesn't make for a great spectacle.
"But I suppose it's exciting because there were still chances at both ends."
The New Zealand team were unrecognisable from the side smashed 5-0 four weeks ago by the Heart in Wellington.
Heart's second equaliser on Sunday looked a fortuitous one, with Manny Muscat unlucky to concede a penalty against Harry Kewell, making his first starting appearance since early February.
