Steve Corica has branded Marko Rudan a "sore loser" after Sydney FC snatched A-League Men derby bragging rights with a 1-0 win over a 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers outfit.

After an explosive game at CommBank Stadium where Yeni Ngbakoto was sent off for slapping Sydney FC defender Paulo Retre, Corica and Rudan were involved in a heated touchline argument at fulltime.

Corica and Rudan were teammates once upon the time but any pleasantries evaporated as they traded barbs.

"I think Rudes was a little bit frustrated with their performance and the result," said Corica, whose side snatched victory courtesy of a first-half strike from Max Burgess.

"We took it on the chin when we lost (the first derby of the season) at our home ground, he's probably being a little bit of a sore loser."

Corica's side exacted revenge and moved up to fifth spot on the A-League Men ladder, with their third straight victory.

They are one point behind the Wanderers, who provided Corica with his team talk after the derby earlier in the season.

Retre had told broadcaster Network 10 that the Wanderers had been overzealous in celebrating that win and Corica said it drove his side on.

"That was something we spoke about and that's the reason we wanted payback tonight," Corica said.

"You can celebrate but you've got to do it with class."

Rudan said the argument centred on what he viewed as cynical play from the Sky Blues.

"I just reminded him of their play-acting, they were doing it in the first half," said the Wanderers boss.

"They went down and were wasting time. I just reminded him of something he said to me when I was with Wellington a few years ago and I beat him 3-0. That's all it was."

Tensions were high throughout and after losing captain Marcelo to a groin injury soon after Burgess' goal, the Wanderers were in a dogfight.

The introduction of former Sydney FC man Milos Ninkovic further fuelled the flames which led to Ngbakoto striking Retre with an open palm.

The incident escaped the attention of referee Adam Kersey who watched replays on VAR and brandished the Congolese winger with a red card.

Rudan hadn't seen vision of the slap but was concerned that VAR was able to go so far back and then punish his side after they had been awarded a corner.

Their hopes of a grabbing an equaliser were dashed when Tom Beadling had a goal chalked off for a handball in the build-up.

"I'm proud of them," Rudan said.

"Our captain goes off and we get a red card and play with 10 men for 30 minutes.

"You would have thought we were the team that had the extra man.

"We had the fight, the spirit, the tenacity - this is a one-off game. Sometimes all these little things go against you."