A Victory side missing James Troisi, Kosta Barbarouses and Christian Theoharous to international duty and the suspended Besart Berisha looked set to continue an underwhelming start to the 2017-18 campaign at Etihad Stadium on Monday.

Mitch Austin left the game with a second yellow card in the 24th minute and Victory - seventh heading into round five with two losses and two draws - quickly found themselves a goal down.

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It looked like the Wanderers by how many after Oriol Riera's deft header found the back of the net in the 32nd minute and a penalty was awarded after Rhys Williams brought down Jumpei Kusukami.

But Lawrence Thomas saved Riera's penalty kick just before the break and Thomas Deng equalised soon after the restart in a spirited display in front of 21,577 fans that could prove a turning point.

"There was a lot more than character shown tonight.... There was some great determination and there was some good football - some real good football," Muscat said.

"The way they executed what was asked of them to get us back into the game, to get an ascendancy, I thought was outstanding.

"There were a number of players who had very good days.

"And on top of that they showed some good character.

"I thought it was an unbelievable effort."

But while Muscat lavished his players with praise, his mood quickly changed when quizzed about the way the game was officiated.

The coach felt the penalty call was "very soft" and took issue with the strict interpretation of the rules that saw Austin red-carded and five more of his players shown a yellow.

"I just want the rules to be the same for everyone every week in every game," he said.

"The players don't know where they stand because of the difference in refereeing from one week to another."

Wanderers caretaker coach Hayden Foxe hands over the reins to Josep Gombau with the side fourth on the ladder and unbeaten at the end of his five-match tenure.

Gombau was in the stands to watch the frustrating display from the team he will officially take charge of on Tuesday.

"I'm gutted - that's two points lost without doubt," Foxe said.

"We had total control of that match and we let it slip.

"The coaching staff, the club and the players are gutted and so they should be - there was a real chance for us to win that match and win it well."