Heart went into the third Melbourne Derby of the season on the back of a four-game winning streak and they showed no signs of slowing down after Orlando Engelaar put them ahead in the eighth minute, with Mate Dugandzic doubling their lead seven minutes later.
It was the Victory's third game in eight days and their already tough task turned into a near impossible one just before half-time when centre-back Nick Ansell was controversially sent off after being adjudged to have denied David Williams a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
Heart couldn't have asked for a better start to the game with Engelaar finding the back of the net in the eighth minute, tapping home after Williams flicked on a venomous Iain Ramsay cross at the near post.
It was the Dutchman who started the move, making the most of a shanked goal kick by Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas, who replaced the under-performing Nathan Coe. Engelaar showed his composure to find Ramsay in plenty of space on the left.
It was only Thomas' fifth appearance in a Victory shirt and his early nerves showed no signs of ending, with the 21-year-old fumbling a corner he should've claimed before it was eventually cleared.
He could do nothing about the Heart's second goal however, with Victory old boy Dugandzic scoring against his former club for the first time after somehow finding the top corner of the net in the 15th minute.
That seemed to spark Kevin Muscat's men into action and they began to enjoy some good spells of possession with Heart's foul count beginning to climb.
However, the game was tipped on its head in the 42nd minute when Ansell was inexplicably given his marching orders after being deemed to have tugged on Williams' shirt when the Heart attacker was through on goal.
Victory's undermanned defence was becoming more and more apparent as Heart laid siege to their goal, with Thomas once again called into action from a Nick Kalmar free-kick as the game ticked into the final 15 minutes.
