Sydney FC defeated the Central Coast Mariners 3-2 at Allianz Stadium this evening, with a brace from Adam Le Fondre, and a superb goal from Joe Lolley sealing the three points and first back-to-back wins this season for the Sky Blues.
Sydney FC 3 (Le Fondre 10’, 73’ Lolley 58’) def Central Coast Mariners 2 (Cummings 16’ (P), 33’)
Moments That Mattered:
LE FONDRE OPENS THE SCORING- 10’- Robert Mak picks up the ball on the left wing before cutting it back to Max Burgess who’s left footed effort is deflected into the path of Le Fondre, who smashes it into the left-hand side of the net to put the Sky Blues 1-0 up.
MARINERS PENALTY, GRANT RED CARD, CUMMINGS GOAL- 16’- Jason Cummings is played through and collides with Rhyan Grant’s shoulder, the referee subsequently awards a penalty and after consulting VAR gives a red card to Sydney FC defender Rhyan Grant. Jason Cummings beats Redmayne from the spot hitting his penalty in off the crossbar, levelling the game.
KALTACK RED CARD 25’- Anthony Caceres plays Max Burgess through on the right wing, Burgess is then hacked down by Brian Kaltack for a free kick on the edge of the area and Kaltack is shown a red card for his tackle. The game will be played with ten players on each team for the remainder.’
CUMMINGS GIVES CCM THE LEAD- 33’- A Mariners attack breaks down the Sky Blue defence and a cutback finds the unmarked Jason Cummings, who takes one touch and puts the ball into the top right corner of the net. Mariners lead 2-1.
JOE LOLLEY LEVELS IT- 58’- Luke Brattan receives the ball in the Mariners half and switches it to on-running left back Diego Caballo. Caballo’s first time ball is perfectly looped into the path of Joe Lolley who’s first time volley is smashed into the roof of the net, the game is level at 2-2.
ALFIE COMPLETES THE TURNAROUND- 73’- Paulo Retre finds himself with space and time on the edge of the box and plays an inch perfect dipping cross to the far post, where Adam Le Fondre’s outstretched leg is enough to tap it home and give Sydney the lead.
What They Said: Steve Corica: “It was fantastic spirit and character from the boys, we played really well.”
“Second half we really dominated, didn’t let them out.
“Brattan comes on and dictates the game, he’s got a really good passing range.
“We’ve got some good quality players and I think the belief and confidence are back.
“Having Wilkinson back has helped immensely.”
Match Report: Sydney FC took advantage of a shaky start for the Mariners creating chances from the first minute and putting the Central Coast defence under constant pressure. This would pay off ten minutes in when Max Burgess’ strike from outside the box dropped straight to Le Fondre who powerfully finished to the keeper’s right.
The Mariners were quick to hit back with a series of attacks and as Jason Cummings was slipped through. He would collide with Rhyan Grant causing the referee to award a penalty to the Mariners. Cummings stepped up to equalise hitting his penalty in off the crossbar.
The drama would continue less than ten minutes later as Anthony Caceres picked out Max Burgess’ darting run down the right wing. Burgess was chopped down by Brian Kaltack’s sliding challenge and the Mariners defender was shown red.
The Mariners would continue to attack over the course of the first half and a cutback from the left wing would cut open the Sydney backline and leave an unmarked Cummings to strike the ball into the top corner.
The first half continued in an end-to-end fashion, with both sides having lots of the ball, Anthony Caceres came close when his shot from inside the box was parried away by Danny Vukovic in goals. The teams would go into the break with the half time score at 2-1.
The second half started in flying fashion with both teams attacking from the off. Adam Le Fondre was prevented from going one on one by a last man tackle, and Marco Tulio nearly doubled the advantage for the Mariners when his shot from very close range hit the side netting.
A wave of Sydney FC attacks put the Mariners defence under the pump and on the hour mark, the Sky Blues would capitalise. A superb ball out to the flank from Brattan was met by Diego Caballo who whipped a left footed ball to the far post where Joe Lolley was waiting to smash home a volley into the net.
The Sky Blues would continue to knock on the Mariners door and when Paulo Retre’s dipping cross found Adam Le Fondre at the far post, the Englishman was able to stretch out a leg and direct the ball past Vukovic. The Sky Blues had completed the second half turnaround.
Sydney FC defended the last 15 minutes valiantly and saw out a 3-2 win to see them get back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Sydney FC: 1. ANDREW REDMAYNE (GK), 2. JAMES DONACHIE, 4. ALEX WILKINSON (C), 8. PAULO RETRE, 9. ADAM LE FONDRE (28. JAKE GIRDWOOD-REICH-87’) 10. JOE LOLLEY (12. PATRICK WOOD- 82’), 11 ROBERT MAK (26. LUKE BRATTAN- 54’), 17. ANTHONY CACERES, 18. DIEGO CABALLO, 22. MAX BURGESS (16. PATRICK YAZBEK-54’), 23. RHYAN GRANT
Unused Subs: 20. TOM HEWARD-BELLE (GK), 19. ADRIAN SEGECIC, 29. AARON GURD.
Yellow Cards: Burgess 30’.
Red Cards: Rhyan Grant 16’.
Central Coast Mariners: 2. THOMAS AQUILINA, 3. BRIAN KALTACK, 4. JOSHUA NISBET (31. CHRISTIAN THEOHAROUS- 75’) 6. MAXIMILIEN BALARD (13. HARRISON STEELE- 60’), 7. SAMUEL SILVERA (23. DANIEL HALL- 28’), 9. JASON CUMMINGS, 11. BENI NKOLOLO (28. JAMES BAYLISS- 75’), 15. STORM ROUX, 20. DANIEL VUKOVIC (C) (GK), 25. NECTARIOS TRIANTIS, 98. MARCO TULIO (21. MICHAEL RUHS- 59’)
Unused Subs: 22. CAMERON WINDUST, 24. YAREN SOZER (GK)
Yellow Cards: Hall 68’.
Red Cards: Brian Kaltack 25’
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Ben Abraham
Attendance: 16.064
