'Berisha is really unlucky' - Muscat

Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has claimed Brisbane Roar defender Luke DeVere told him Besart Berisha shouldn't have been sent off.

Berisha was shown a red card in the 58th minute of Victory's 3-2 win over Roar on Friday night with the striker dismissed for elbowing DeVere.

While replays suggested the contact was minimal and accidental, the assistant referee recommended a red card to referee Chris Beath.

"Bes is really unlucky. I haven't come across anyone that says it's a red card," Muscat said afterwards.

"Luke DeVere comes up to me after the game and was embarrassed because he said 'I wasn't making a meal of it. It was accidental. I told the referee that.' They were his words, not mine.

"Subsequently I've seen it. The ball's coming up to him [Berisha], he puts his arms out and he doesn't even know where Luke DeVere is but the decision's been made. We move on."

With a busy week coming up of consecutive trips to play Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory, many Victory fans must be expecting their club will appeal Berisha's sanction.

But Muscat had bad news on that front.

"As far as I know there are no grounds to appeal," he said.

Muscat indicated that George Howard, James Troisi and Max Beister would all be in the mix to cover Berisha's absence against the Phoenix.

Although Victory's coach was frustrated with the red card, he was thrilled with how his team played to surge into a 3-0 lead and then held on with 10 players.

Troisi, Marco Rojas and Berisha all scored in a scintillating opening from Victory at AAMI Park.

But Brisbane fought back before the interval with Dimi Petratos' thumping free-kick and an own goal from James Donachie making the scoreline 3-2.

"That first 27 minutes we played some great football and they were on the back foot. Let's call a spade a spade," Muscat said.

"They were on the back foot, we were dominating with presence, with a clear intent to attack."

The Victory boss added: "Through our own fault, we got Brisbane back into the game."