Sydney FC have won the inaugural E-League Premiership after a dramatic draw in Round 9 saw them finish ahead of Melbourne City on goal difference.
Mouad Zwed of Melbourne Victory almost forced the title to rivals City, but Samer Elbadar did enough across a tense two legs to seal the honour for the Sky Blues.
Elsewhere, the fight for ideal final placings saw the Reds settling for fifth and setting up a Finals showdown with Western Sydney, while the competition was treated to an El Tornado for the second straight week.
Each of the 10 teams now switch attention to the E-League 2018 Finals Series to be held on 26 April, when individual PS4 and Xbox champions will be anointed.
READ: Full details on the E-League 2018 Finals Series
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Western Sydney Wanderers 6-3 Adelaide United
- Rick Tran’s exceptional PS4 performance guided Western Sydney Wanderers to a win that kept them in fourth ahead of Adelaide United.
Xbox: Joseph ‘OhNoAGoat’ Nassar 2-3 Jamie ‘FUTWIZ Jamie’ O’Doherty
What shaped as one of the matches of the night didn’t disappoint as Jamie O’Doherty traded blows with Joseph Nassar before holding on in a 3-2 thriller.
Two of the competition’s most fiery players produced an explosive start, O’Doherty piling on three goals in the space of 20 minutes after Roly Bonevacia had netted the first.
Nassar carefully constructed a second after the interval but it wasn’t enough to knock O’Doherty off an impressive result.
.@Cristiano, @GullitR, Johan Absalonsen and @Bengaruccio celebrate @Jamie_ODoherty's 3-1 half-time lead in Round 9 of @ELeagueAus 😜 #AUFC #ELeague pic.twitter.com/zgj0tPTQOe
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) April 12, 2018
PS4: Rick ‘RDBOULETTT’ Tran 4-0 Zachary ‘vDreamz-Shooter’ May-Burgess
Dealt a first-leg deficit to chase, Rick Tran did that and then some on the way to outclassing Zachary May-Burgess 4-0.
It was all square on aggregate when Tran somehow worked space for the opener after 15 minutes and he truly turned the tie around by curling home a wonderful finish on the hour.
May-Burgess was powerless to stop his opponent as another two late goals capped off an ominous showing from one of the league’s darkhorses.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268479001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5769331999001
This article was originally published at: www.a-league.com.au/news/sydney-fc-seal-title-nerve-jangling-draw-e-league-round-9-wrap
