Socceroo striker Archie Thompson scored off a quickly-taken free kick deep in extra time to lift champions Melbourne Victory into their third A-League grand final in four years here on Sunday.
Thompson's 115th-minute goal off a cheeky free kick from skipper Kevin Muscat caught out the Sydney FC defence to tie up the second leg of the major semi-final at 2-2.
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Melbourne are the first team into the March 20 season decider at home after winning the two-leg semi-final 4-3 on aggregate following their 2-1 first leg win over a fortnight ago.
Sydney, who finished top of the league after the regulation rounds, must now regroup and face Wellington Phoenix at home next Saturday for a second shot at a spot in the grand final.
Phoenix kept alive in the title race when they defeated Newcastle Jets 3-1 after extra time in Wellington earlier Sunday.
Victory striker Robbie Kruse scored with a wonderful strike into the top right-hand corner in the 15th minute before Slovak Karol Kisel equalised with a 36th-minute penalty.
Mark Bridge scored a cracking goal for Sydney early in the second half to square the tie.
But Melbourne caught the Sydney defence napping when Thompson darted on to a quickly-taken Muscat free-kick and beat goalkeeper Clint Bolton with minutes left of extra time to finally separate the two fierce inter-city rivals.
There will be limited time for the Melbourne players to celebrate their success as they have to back up for Tuesday's home AFC Champions' League match with South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa.
Barbadian striker Paul Ifill inspired a 3-1 win for Phoenix over the Jets before a club record crowd of 32,792 fans in Wellington.
Ifill buried a decisive goal midway through extra time after Jets captain Matt Thompson and Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown had struck in the first half of regular time.
Substitute Ivory Coast striker Eugene Dadi killed off the match with a third goal for Phoenix five minutes from the end of extra time.
