Football
AAP 6y

Melbourne Victory coaches facing bans for on-field scuffle with David Carney

Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has pleaded with A-League chiefs to spare his assistants from bans that would see them miss the Grand Final.

Right-hand man Jean-Paul de Marigny and goalkeeping coach Dean Anastasiadis were both red-carded by referee Kurt Ams during the Victory's 3-2 extra-time success.

Terry Antonis' 117th-minute winner sent the entire Victory bench to life, with several players and the coaches heading onto the pitch.

De Marigny appeared to slap David Carney in the face in an extraordinary on-field incident.

Both Victory coaches were dismissed for violent conduct after a VAR review, which can mean a spell away from the sideline.

Muscat said his assistants wore enough punishment by missing the emotional scenes at full-time.

"I was caught up in the emotion of the goal and I didn't see anything," he said.

"Surely common sense will prevail and they can enjoy what they've worked hard for throughout the season next week."

Muscat said their actions needed to be seen in the context of a mammoth win.

"Football is an emotional game. Sometimes when someone gets overly emotional we want to jump on them and crucify them," he said.

"And when there's no emotion, it's boring.

"I'm hoping common sense will prevail and I'm pretty sure it will."

Arnold also offered De Marigny a character reference, calling him "a good man" who buried the hatchet with Carney later that night.

"Jean Paul de Marigny is a great guy, it's just emotion," Arnold said.

"It's something hard to explain. Especially in the Big Blue in a rivalry."

Victory's win means they take on the Newcastle Jets in Saturday night's Grand Final.

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