Sydney FC 3 (Le Fondre 27’, Barbarouses 53’, Baumjohann 85’) def. Melbourne Victory 0
Sydney FC have moved eleven clear at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder after a resounding 3-0 win away to Melbourne Victory in another #BigBlue triumph.
Moments That Mattered:
- Le Fondre Goal – 27’ – Baumjohann eases past the Victory defence to pull it back for Le Fondre to finish inside the six yard box.
- Brattan Shot – 34’ – Brattan’s quick snap shot free-kick goes just wide.
- Toivenen Misses Sitter – 49′ – The former Sunderland striker misses a free header into an open goal.
- Barbarouses Goal – 53’ – Some great interplay between Le Fondre and Baumjohann leads to the easiest of tap ins for the Sky Blue forward.
- Baumjohann Goal – 85’ – Ivanovic shrugs off his defender easily to draw it back for Ninkovic as he calmly puts the ball on a plater for the German to bag his first Sky Blue goal.
- Redmayne Save – 88’ – Redmayne thwarts a rare genuine chance for Victory, palming away from danger.
- Broxham and Baumjohann Red Card – 90+4’ – The Victory and Sky Blues players are shown their marching orders just before the final whistle as tensions come to boiling point.
The Sky Blues asserted their dominance over the struggling Melbourne side early with Adam Le Fondre netting his 14th of the campaign after being teed up by Baumjohann.
Despite consistent pressure throughout the remainder of the first half, the side would wait until just after half time to double their advantage, this time through Barbarouses who made it two from two against Victory.
Baumjohann put the final nail in the coffin sealing a Big Blue win with his first goal for the club after some brilliant lead up play from Ivanovic and Ninkovic.
Sydney FC will be back on home turf next Friday night as they look to extend their unbeaten run to 12 games against Brisbane Roar.
What They Said:
Head Coach Steve Corica: “It was a very pleasing performance, very good attacking play and the defensive effort today was great to see and a clean sheet is something they worked very hard for.
“There’s never any complacency we had a chat during the week about what we’ve achieved at the half way point and what we need to do to be better.
“I love this game, it’s a special one for us and a derby. We want to keep improving in the A-League and we will tackle the AFC Champions League when it comes up.”
Milos Ninkovic: “I’m very pleased how we played especially second half and we had a lot chances and should have scored a couple more.
“I said that he [Kosta] and Alex would score a goal. We just need to keep going. I think it’s going to be hard now with Champions League starting but I think we have a very good squad and we need to keep going and playing like we did tonight.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4. Alex WILKINSON, 5. Alexander BAUMJOHANN, 6. Ryan McGOWAN, 8. Paulo RETRE (17. Anthony CACERES, 73’), 9. Adam Le FONDRE, 10. Milos NINKOVIC (21. Harry Van Der SAAG 89’), 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES (18. Luke IVANOVIC 80′), 16. Joel KING, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26. Luke BRATTAN.
Subs Not Used: 30. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 2. Patrick FLOTTMANN.
Yellow Cards: 6. Ryan McGOWAN 7’, 26. Luke BRATTAN 63’.
Red Cards: 5. Alexander BAUMJOHANN.
Melbourne Victory: 20. Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 2. Storm ROUX, 6. Leigh BROXHAM, 9. Andrew NABBOUT, 10. Robbie KRUSE, 11. Ola TOIVONEN (7. Kenny ATHIU 73’), 17. Elvis KAMSOBA (16. Josh HOPE 84’), 18. Migjen BASHA, 19. Ben CARRIGAN, 21. Adama TOURE.
Subs Not Used: 50. Brendan WHITE (GK), 8. Jakob POULSEN, 25. Brandon LAUTON, 26. Jay BARNETT.
Yellow Cards: 6. Leigh BROXHAM 19’, 10. Robbie KRUSE 35’
Red Cards: 6. Leigh BROXHAM.
Ground: AAMI Park
Referee: Stephen Lucas
