Perth Glory held on for a 2-1 victory away to Western Sydney Wanderers despite Denis Kramar's red card as their campaign came to a close.
The result saw Glory draw level on points with league leaders Melbourne Victory at the top of the table, but they will not be able to take part in this season's A-League finals as a result of a Football Federation Australia punishment for breaching the salary cap.
The visitors had taken the lead through Jamie MacLaren's low shot on 17 minutes, but they were pegged back eight minutes after the break through A-League debutant Liam Youlley's deflected effort.
However, Andy Keogh restored their lead on 66 minutes after excellent work from Josh Risdon, and it proved enough to secure the three points even after Kramar picked up a second booking in the 76th minute.
The players thank the traveling fans after a disappointing result. Now onto the Finals and #TheNext90 pic.twitter.com/quWCv4EcAp
- Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 25, 2015
In the day's other game, Adelaide United thrashed Melbourne City 4-1.
United were three up at the break thanks to goals from Palanca, Pablo Sanchez and Tarek Elrich, and Cameron Watson increased the visitors' misery just before the hour mark when he converted a penalty after Craig Goodwin was brought down by Jonatan Germano.
Aaron Mooy then won and converted a penalty for City on 65 minutes, but they suffered another setback immediately afterwards when Kew Jaliens was sent off for a professional foul on Goodwin.
The home side also went down to 10 men on 70 minutes when Michael Marrone was shown a straight red for a foul on Erik Paartalu, but there were no further goals.
Adelaide move fourth in the table as a result, although Perth Glory's punishment means they will move up one spot in the final standings, while City are sixth as it stands.