Australia 1 Greece 2: Spectacular Maniatis goal earns rare win

Giannis Maniatis scored a sensational goal from inside his own half to light up a scrappy international friendly as Greece defeated Australia 2-1 in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The Socceroos beat their European opponents 1-0 in the first game of a two-match series, Mathew Leckie netting the winner in stoppage time at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

But Michael Skibbe's visitors gained revenge at Etihad Stadium, where Petros Mantalos opened the scoring.

An ill-tempered match will be remembered for Maniatis' 20th-minute goal, the midfielder having embarrassed Australia goalkeeper Adam Federici with a goal worthy of the likes of David Beckham and Xabi Alonso.

Australia began the second half with more purpose, but Greece were inches away from making it 3-0 in the 56th minute as captain Vasilis Torosidis smashed a hooked attempt from a corner against the upright.

Two minutes later the disjointed hosts finally hit the back of the net, when Aaron Mooy swung in a corner that was met by the head of Tim Cahill. Milligan steered a header of his own from Cahill's attempt on to the crossbar, before Sainsbury nodded the rebound into an unguarded net.