Ten-man Sydney FC suffered defeat on Saturday night, as Macarthur snatched a 2-0 win at the Allianz Stadium.
Macarthur FC 2 (J. Hollman 28’, Germain 87’) def. Sydney FC 0
Moments That Mattered
15’ – REDMAYNE SENT OFF – Redmayne rushes out of his area and blocks Millar’s shot, but is dismissed after VAR review adjudging the goalkeeper to have denied the effort with his arm.
28’ – J. HOLLMAN GOAL – Macarthur’s Hollman opens the scoring with a tidy finish from Germain’s pass.
63’ – MAK GOAL RULED OUT – Mak lobs Kurto with a lovely hooked shot in off the post, but the offside flag is raised.
87’ – GERMAIN GOAL – Germain is picked out by Drew from the right, and flicks past Pavlesic.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay:
“The disappointing side is that we didn’t reward ourselves with what we created, as I believe we deserved something from the game. The way we wanted to play was important and I thought we did that well with 10 men.
“Even with 10, in the second half we pinned them back – it’s normal that they’ll break at times with the extra player they have. The boys were aggressive, we created opportunities, but just didn’t reward ourselves in those moments.
“I need to see [the red card] again – I’ve only seen it live – it looked then as if the ball moved toward Redders’ arm rather than his arm toward the ball. Whether the ball’s going in the goal is a different story as well. The referee made a decision and we have to live with it.”
Match Report:
Sydney FC were unable to build on last week’s victory, going down 2-0 to Macarthur FC at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.
Jake Hollman and Valere Germain found the net in each half for the South Sydney outfit, with Andrew Redmayne’s straight red card early on meaning the Sky Blues were forced to play over 75 minutes a man down.
Despite a valiant work ethic throughout, Sydney consequently remain 10th on the A-League ladder after seven rounds as Macarthur climb to the summit.
Head Coach Ufuk Talay opted to start with the same XI which came out on top over Perth Glory in Round 6, and the game began fairly openly.
Fewer than three minutes had been ticked off when Fabio Gomes positioned himself for an excellent opportunity, but was only able to head at visiting goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
Macarthur themselves saw a goal chalked off at the other end moments later, as Matthew Millar’s shot deflected past Redmayne via a deflection from the offside captain Ulises Davila.
And the next significant moment of the match would prove a key turning point, as Redmayne received his marching orders.
A quarter of an hour in, the stopper rushed out of his area in an attempt to thwart Millar. The Macarthur man sought out a chipped effort from 30 yards, which in blocking the shot, it was adjudged via VAR that he had used his arm, sending Sydney down to 10.
Adam Pavlesic replaced the unfortunately sacrificed Pat Wood and was called into immediate action, keeping out Clayton Lewis’ resulting free-kick.
Gomes went close again soon after, denied again by Kurto, after latching onto Joe Lolley’s through-ball.
But it would be the away side who took the lead, making their numerical advantage count as Hollman side-footed into the corner after receiving Germain’s pass.
Pavlesic stepped in to prevent a two-goal deficit when Hollman was denied his second, before Joel King fired a volley on target from Lolley’s deep cross – the final chance of the first half.
After the break, Sydney did create further in what became a somewhat spiky encounter – Gabriel Lacerda arrowing wide from close range after great build-up from Gomes and Rhyan Grant.
Anthony Caceres, on at the interval after his injury absence last week, drove a shot wide from outside the area, shortly after Robert Mak’s neat hooked lob into the net was chalked off courtesy of the offside flag.
As the 10-man hosts chased a leveller, Macarthur broke forward in one notable counter-attack, through three-against-one until Jed Drew hastily went for goal and curled his shot wide.
With four minutes to go, however, Drew was at the heart of the crucial blow which wrapped the game up for Mile Sterjovski’s side, fizzing the ball across from the right for Germain to flick in the second goal.
Germain missed a huge chance for his second in the dying stages as the away side broke clear once more, but the earlier two goals were enough and the Sky Blues must look to make amends in the second Big Blue of the campaign at Melbourne Victory next weekend.
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 8. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH, 9. Fabio GOMES, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Robert MAK (19. Mitch GLASSON 81’), 12. Corey HOLLMAN (17. Anthony CACERES 46’), 13. Pat WOOD (20. Adam PAVLESIC (GK) 18’), 15. Gabriel LACERDA, 16. Joel KING, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26. Luke BRATTAN © (4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS 81’).
Unused Subs: 21. Zac DE JESUS, 28. Nathan AMANATIDIS, 29. Joe LACEY.
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: Redmayne (15’)
Macarthur FC: 12. Filip KURTO (GK), 5. Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, 6. Tomislav USKOK, 8. Jake HOLLMAN (7. Daniel DE SILVA 76’), 10. Ulises DÁVILA © (37. Jed DREW 65’), 15. Kearyn BACCUS, 22. Yianna NICOLAOU, 23. Clayton LEWIS (24. Kokola M’MOMBWA 76’), 32. Isaac HOVAR (16. Oliver JONES 76’), 44. Matthew MILLAR (17. Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES 65’), 98. Valere GERMAIN.
Unused Subs: 1. Danijel NIZIC (GK), 36. Ali AUGLAH.
Yellow Cards: Davila (31’), Lewis (53’), Hovar (64’), Baccus (72’)
Red Cards: None
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Daniel Elder
