Anthea Chester says her son Cooper was lucky to avoid an errant flare outside Etihad Stadium after Melbourne Victory came from behind to defeat Melbourne City.

"It literally flew over the top of us and landed four or fives metres to our left.

"It flew over Cooper, so he instinctively ducked," Ms Chester said. "The crowd was so thick, so you couldn't run."

"I thought, if I need to I can push him down and jump on top of him to protect him.

"I'm a paramedic so I don't tend to panic, but there was a bit of survival mode happening at that moment," she said.

The Pakenham mum said Cooper felt frightened.

She said the man who threw the flare, who appeared to be aged in his late teens, then took his top off and began dancing around the flare as though he was performing a tribal dance.

Police have confirmed that two men were arrested for lighting flares.

One of the men was detained by fellow fans, who then reported him to police, while officers apprehended the second man, a police spokeswoman said.

"While police were happy with the behaviour of the overwhelming majority of the crowd during the match, a number of flares were let off outside the stadium after the game," she said. "The men will be interviewed by police and are expected to be charged."

A third man was arrested at the match for damaging his seat, police said.

Eleven people were evicted from the stadium during the match.

Victory came dangerously close to an FFA penalty for repeat flare-lighting late last year, but the self-policing of fans, who reported anti-social behaviour, played a factor in only receiving a reprimand.

Victory has embraced an anti-flare campaign and the vast majority of fans are speaking out against the handful of troublemakers who they fear give all supporters a bad name.

Police have previously described the problem as stemming from a small group of "hardcore" rowdy fans.