Goals from their two marquees, Milos Ninkovic and Bobo sealed a 2-1 win for Sydney FC to give the club its third major trophy in 2017.

It was no less than the Sky Blues deserved after dominating Adelaide in front of 13,452 fans at Allianz Stadium to mark what may be remembered as the most successful year for an Australian football club in the 40 years of national domestic football.

Adelaide United made Sydney FC work harder than expected for the result but return to South Australia facing the prospect of losing full-back Michael Marrone for an extended period after he was sent-off for violent conduct against a young ball-boy.

The Sky Blues took little time to find their rhythm. Mierzejewski was the architect from the midfield, Bobo the protagonist in the forward line and the latter's combination with captain Alex Brosque broke the deadlock in the 19th minute. Bobo found the clever angled run of Brosque who split Adelaide's defence with a through ball for Milos Ninkovic. The Serbian anticipated a poor challenge from Marrone and with only Izzo to beat, made no mistake, calmly finishing to put Sydney on course for a third trophy in six months.

Whatever was said by Adelaide coach Marco Kurz during the break provided an immediate response from the Reds. But it took a sublime strike to bring them level. From seemingly nothing, Nikola Mileusnic latched on to a long ball from Ersan Gulum and with his second touch, curled a stunning long-range shot into the corner of the net to draw level and become the first goalscorer for an away team in an FFA Cup final.

Sydney had chances to clinch the result late in regular time when a Matt Simon penalty claim was waved away. Simon spurned a one-on-one late in the match before Izzo pulled off two saves to deny Bobo in the dying moments.

The Reds should have buried the result in extra-time with three gilt-edged chances in as many minutes only for Matmour, Mark Ochieng and substitute George Blackwood to miss sitters inside the box.

After antagonising Adelaide's defenders for 111 minutes, Bobo inflicted the final blow. The Brazilian striker pounced on a perfectly weighted Mierzejewski free-kick to guide the ball into the back of the net, and the Cup into the hands of the Sky Blues.

Adelaide's frustrations simmered to a boil and in a moment of madness, Marrone was sent-off for a disgraceful incident. The Reds' fullback threw a young ball-boy to the ground which ended his night and could land him in further hot water. In terms of the result, it changed little. Sydney FC held on to claim their first Cup title and cement themselves as the country's premier team.