Heart land draw to sink Victory

Melbourne Heart have come from behind to secure a 2-2 draw against the Melbourne Victory in the third Melbourne derby this year.

John Aloisi earned his pay check as he pulled the Heart out of a two goal deficit to draw level and ensure the Heart's season still has a beat.

Unfortunately for the 32,000 fans in attendance, Kevin Muscat's antics took centre stage.

Muscat's mindless tackle on Adrian Zahra in the 79th minute gave the referee no choice but to bypass the second yellow and draw the red. The Victory's promising start was now looking like it would be swept out from under their feet.

The Victory opened the scoring after just 11 minutes when Matthew Kemp crossed a ball that found the head of a diving Danny Allsopp.

Carlos Hernandez added to the Victory's tally when he appeared to make the ball sing from a free kick.

The stunning strike was marred once again by some roughhouse tactics from Muscat on the Heart's defensive wall.

However, the Heart hadn't lost the form or desperation they've shown in recent weeks as Aloisi pulled one back before the break.

Aloisi was Johnny on the spot to finish off a miraculous bicycle kick from Alex Terra, which sent them into the sheds only one goal down.

The Heart's second goal came only six minutes into the second half when another aerial kick was again directed to Aloisi who drove it home with his head.

The Heart weren't done and appeared to be on a roll, however the brilliant Terra was unable to seal the deal when placed under the pressure with a shot on goal.

Although a game so full of excitement and drama didn't deserve a draw, the Victory showed their experience with a decimated roster.

The Heart proved they're not only coming into a rich vein of form, but also have some ticker to go with it.