Sydney FC 1 (Le Fondre 53’) def. by Western United (Berisha 21’, Lustica 90’) 2
Sydney FC have been crowned Hyundai A-League Premiers following a 2-1 loss to Western United at Leichhardt Oval tonight, and look forward to a Hyundai A-League semi-final in eleven days.
Moments That Mattered:
BARBAROUSES CHANCE – 15′ – Great combination between Ninkovic and Barbarouses before the Kiwi sees a low effort saved! Brilliant move.
BERISHA GOAL – 21’ – Diamanti’s cross takes a deflection off the head of King which Redmayne saves and parries into the air but Berisha is on hand to tap the ball over the line.
DIAMANTI OFF THE BAR – 26’ – Diamanti tries the chip from halfway and finds the crossbar with Redmayne gathering the rebound.
BRATTAN CLOSE – 34′ – Brattan steps up to curl the free kick at goal, and it goes just wide of the post.
CACERES SO CLOSE – 41’ – Caceres charges forward and unleashes a ferocious drive which Kurto saves brilliantly to push behind for a corner.
LE FONDRE GOAL – 53’ – Baumjohann flights in a corner kick and Le Fondre heads home into the corner to pull level in the golden boot standings.
LUSTICA GOAL 90’ – Western break forward and it’s cut back to Lustica to sweep home inside the box.
Sydney FC were presented with the Hyundai A-League Premiers Plate and look forward to a semi-final in eleven days time after a 2-1 defeat with Western United at Leichhardt Oval.
United took the lead midway through the first half after a deflected cross from Diamanti could only be parried by Redmayne and Berisha was able to tap the loose ball into the empty net.
But the Sky Blues were level early in the second half when a Le Fondre header from a Baumjohann corner found the back of the net.
The visitors snatched it late when Lustica slide the ball home following a break on the right hand side.
After the final whistle Sydney FC Captain Alex Wilkinson lifted the Premiers Plate to round out a successful regular season and now wait to find out their opponents in the semi final.
What they said: Steve Corica: “I think we are actually playing quite well, we’re just not picking up the wins that we probably deserve of late, that’s the way it goes in football sometimes.
“We had a good run early in the season but we have a very important game in eleven days’ time so we need to prepare well for that.
“We still have the best defence in the league, so it’s there but we need to recapture the defensive hard work.
“I still believe this side will win the Grand Final. They are Premiers for a reason.
“We’re still nine points clear and a long way ahead. Full credit to the boys they deserve what they’ve got so far which is one trophy but we’ve set our sights on two trophies.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4. Alex WILKINSON, 5. Alexander BAUMJOHANN (18. Luke IVANOVIC 83’), 6. Ryan McGOWAN, 7. Michael ZULLO (16. Joel KING 14’), 9. Adam Le FONDRE, 10. Milos NINKOVIC, 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES (12. Trent BUHAGIAR 83’), 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26, Luke BRATTAN (19. Chris ZUVELA 58’).
Subs: 20. Tom HEWARD-BELLE (GK), 2. Patrick FLOTTMANN, 21. Harry Van Der SAAG.
Yellow Cards: None.
Red Cards: None.
Western United: 1.Filip KURTO (gk), 4.Andrew DURANTE (2.Aaron CALVER 63’), 5.Dylan PIERIAS, 6.Tomoki IMAI, 10.Steven LUSTICA, 14.Max BURGESS, 17.Joshua CAVALLO (24. Thiel IRADUKUNDA 84’), 18.Besart BERISHA (9. Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS 63’), 21.Sebastian PASQUALI, 22.Tomislav USKOK, 23.Alessandro DIAMANTI (c) (25. Luke DUZEL 63’), 28. Oskar DILLON.
Subs: 30.Ryan SCOTT (gk), 7.Valentino YUEL, 27.Jerry SKOTADIS.
Yellow Cards: Burgess 47’, Pierias 52’.
Red Cards: None.
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Referee: Alex King
