Anarchy unfolds on Melbourne streets ahead of A-League Grand Final

The streets of Melbourne descended into chaos as football fans fired flares and clashed with police ahead of the A-League Grand Final.

The streets of Melbourne looked more like the set of a Hollywood blockbuster on Saturday night ahead of the A-League Grand Final.

A haze of smoke filled the streets as Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory fans marched through Richmond towards AAMI Park.

A large police presence did little to quell the chaos as flares were let off all over the place ahead of the Derby decider.

Swan Street in Richmond was overtaken by football fans as police lined the streets with images looking like something taken from a Mad Max instalment.

Not your average grand final march. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

It was chaos on the streets. Picture: NewsWire/Diego Fedele

The Public Order Response Team and Victoria Police arrive in Richmond. Picture: NewsWire/Diego Fedele

As reported by the Herald Sun, large anti-police chants could be heard coming from the G bar shortly after 5pm.

Once the fan march got underway the flares began to fly as more police arrived to keep things under control.

Tensions however began to escalate as the crowd reached the Precinct Hotel on their way towards the stadium.

Tensions boiled over between fans and the police. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Fans were out in force ahead of the grand final. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Fans ultimately made their way into AAMI Park to witness the first ever Derby Grand Final between the cross-town rivals.

City fans didn’t have to wait long for the celebrations to erupt with Yonatan Cohen finding the back of the net inside the opening 10 minutes.

A scintillating run down the left side by Aziz Behich set up Andreas Kuen, who crossed into the middle of the box.

The cross found Max Caputo, whose shot slammed off the crossbar and rebounded to Cohen who made no mistake with his strike.

Despite their best efforts Victory could not get an equaliser with City holding the 1-0 advantage at halftime.

The second half played out as a tight tussle but it was City who took home the chocolates with the a 1-0 win over Victory.

Originally published as Anarchy unfolds on Melbourne streets ahead of A-League Grand Final