Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United have been forced to settle for a 1-1 draw and rue a missed opportunity to close on the A-League Men top two.
Victory superstar Juan Mata delivered his league-leading 10th assist of the season as in-form winger Keegan Jelacic put the home side in front in the 26th minute at AAMI Park on Friday night.
But the Reds equalised through Yaya Dukuly nine minutes later, before both teams spurned chances to win it.
"Maybe if you look at the chances in the match, I think we probably deserved more out of that," Victory coach Arthur Diles said.
"We've missed maybe two or three really good chances in that second half.
"Take the point, absolutely, but I think we were good to get all three tonight - but it wasn't to be."
Adelaide (30 points), sit third after blowing a chance to leapfrog Auckland FC (32) into second, while the Victory (28), unbeaten in four, remain fifth behind Sydney FC (29).
Melbourne midfielder Denis Genreau was substituted in the 55th minute with what Diles confirmed was a quad issue.
Mata was part of a triple-substitution in the 66th minute and Diles said he had been sore from a knock suffered in the Melbourne derby - but had no concerns about his ability to face Sydney away next Saturday.
The hosts took the lead when Mata quickly pinged a pass that released Jelacic.
The winger planted Adelaide defender Panagiotis Kikianis on his backside with a lovely jink, then finished on his right foot.
In the 31st minute, Jelacic should have made it 2-0 when his close-range strike faded across goal.
Adelaide hit back when Jonny Yull forced Jack Warshawsky into a one-handed save and the ball spilled to Dukuly, who curled a tricky strike into the roof of the net.
Warshawsky brilliantly denied Jovanovic, then Ethan Alagich with excellent saves as halftime approached.
Jovanovic should have put Adelaide in front just after the hour mark when he latched onto a wonderful ball from Ryan White and rounded Warshawsky but he turned his close-range finish onto the post.
"We had a big chance to win the game in the second half," Adelaide coach Airton Andrioli said.
"If Luka scores that goal, then it puts us in a good position.
"When we look at a performance like today, I think we're maturing ... if we go back a little bit earlier, maybe we lose a game like this today."
Both teams spurned late chances to seal three points.
Adelaide host struggling Wellington next Friday night.
