Sydney FC extended their lead at the top Hyundai A-League to six points, equalling a club record of ten consecutive wins in all competitions.
Summary
Sydney FC 4 (Ninkovic 14’, 80’, Bobô 38’, Brosque 87’) def Perth Glory 1 (Mills 61’)
Sydney FC extended their lead at the top Hyundai A-League to six points, equalling a club record of ten consecutive wins in all competitions.
Two goals from PFA Player of the Month Milos Ninkovic, one from marquee striker Bobô and another from captain Alex Brosque on his 150th A-League appearance for the club ensured the three points.
The Sky Blues have won all six of their Hyundai A-League games so far this season scoring 17 goals for the concession of just two in the process.
A win away to Brisbane Roar next weekend would see the Sky Blues equal the best ever start to a Hyundai A-League season of seven consecutive wins.
What They Said
Graham Arnold: “I’m looking forward to the day of a 90 minute performance. I thought we were fantastic tonight for 60 to 65 minutes.
“You’re never going to control the game for the full 90 but our slow starts is something we need to look at.
“It was a fantastic performance, we gave the fans their money’s worth. I don’t think they had a shot on target, we could have had more. I think we’re physically by far the strongest team in the league. We’ve got a great team spirit, the group is exceptionally happy.
“We just want to win every game and you can see the boys want to do the same. They’re a hard side to play against, Perth are a difficult side and have some very good individual quality.”
Alex Brosque: “The A-League is that tough, anyone can beat anyone on their day and I think that makes it even more special what we’ve done with the six wins in a row and reaching the FFA Cup final. I never seen a team at Sydney start this way, play this way or dominate games this way. There is a long way to go, we’re not getting carried away.”
Goals
14’ NINKOVIC GOAL – A mix up between Djulbic and Reddy allows Ninkovic to steal the ball away from the pair of them close to the byline and walk the ball into the net.
38’ BOBÔ GOAL – Grant wins the ball back off Marinkovic and gives it to Brosque who runs with it before playing in Ninkovic. The Serbian moved towards goal before unselfishly passing the ball wide to Bobô to finish into an empty net.
61’ MILLS GOAL – The ball is played out wide to Mills who hits a cross which takes a wicked deflection off Grant’s outstretched foot and goes beyond Vukovic.
80’ NINKOVIC GOAL – Carney’s lob hits the bar and lands at Ninko who takes one touch before volleying home from point blank.
88’ BROSQUE GOAL – Simon bursts down the right to shoot, but it’s blocked and falls to Carney who fires from point blank range but Reddy is equal to it. The ball rebounds to Simon who squares it to Brosque and the skipper makes no mistake in his 150th A-League game for the Sky Blues.
Key Moments
4’ KEOGH MISS – Keogh is released clean through on goal and with only Vukovic to beat clips the ball the wrong side of the post.
19’ HOLOSKO SHOT SAVED – Ninkovic plays a defence splitting pass to set Holosko clear but the Slovakian’s first time shot is pushed wide of the post by Reddy.
27’ BROSQUE SHOT WIDE – Brosque curls a right foot shot from inside the box just wide of the post.
32’ HOLOSKO SHOT SAVED – Bobô finds Holosko at the back edge of the area and the Slovakian pulls off a shot which is deflected wide by the Perth defence.
51’ BROSQUE SHOT – Brosque takes an opportunistic pot shot from distance and nearly catches Reddy off guard but his effort is just wide of the post.
69’ CARNEY CHANCE – Zullo finds Carney inside the box but the ball gets trapped under his feet before he can get a shot off and Perth re-group to clear the danger.
85’ SIMON HEADER – Matt Simon’s downward header is tipped over the bar by Reddy.
Team News
Sydney FC 4 (Ninkovic 14’, 80’, Bobô 38’, Brosque 87’) def Perth Glory 1 (Mills 61’)
Head Coach Graham Arnold kept the same line up to the one which started against Melbourne Victory although goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic had to be replaced on the bench by Mitch Evans having gone down with sickness.
Ground: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Peter Green
Attendance: 14,167.
Sydney FC: 20. Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 4. Alex WILKINSON, 5. Matt JURMAN (c), 6. Joshua BRILLANTE, 7. Michael ZULLO, 9. BOBÔ (18. Matt SIMON 73’), 10. Milos NINKOVIC, 13. Brandon O’NEILL, 14. Alex BROSQUE (22. Sebastian RYALL 90’), 21. Filip HOLOSKO (17. David CARNEY 66’), 23. Rhyan GRANT.
Subs not used: 30. Mitch EVANS, 8. Milos DIMITRIJEVIC.
Yellow cards: Holosko 25’, Brillante 30’, Zullo 41’.
Red cards: None.
Perth Glory: 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 5.Rhys WILLIAMS, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 8.Rostyn GRIFFITHS (c) (4.Shane LOWRY 78’), 9.Andy KEOGH, 10.Nebojsa MARINKOVIC, 14.Chris HAROLD (7.Joel CHIANESE 55’), 16.Joe MILLS, 17.Diego CASTRO, 24.Milan SMILJANIC.
Subs not used: 13.Nicholas FEELY (gk), 20.Aryn WILLIAMS, 23.Kosta PETRATOS.
Yellow cards: None.
Red cards: None.
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