The Sky Blues have gone down 3-0 to Melbourne Victory, after goals from Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli sealed the win for the Victorians.
Sydney FC 0 def. by Melbourne Victory 3 (Arzani 20’, Machach 24’, Fornaroli 58’)
Moments that Mattered:
14’ GIRDWOOD-REICH CHANCE: Joel King crosses the ball into the box and finds Jake Girdwood-Reich’s head but it’s cleared off the goalline.
20’ ARZANI GOAL: Daniel Arzani picks up the ball and dribbles forward before burying it into the bottom left corner.
24’ MACHACH GOAL: Arzani lays the ball off to Jake Brimmer, who taps the ball into the path of Zinedine Machach who chips the ball over Pavlesic to double the lead.
32’ GOMES OFFSIDE GOAL: Caceres finds the feet of Fabio Gomes with a through ball and the Brazilian finds the back of the net but his goal is called offside after a VAR check.
58’ FORNAROLI GOAL: Zinedine Machach releases the ball into the feet of Bruno Fornaroli, who sends Victory 3-0 up.
89’ KUCHARSKI CHANCE: Jaiden Kucharski’s head meets a cross from Anthony Caceres but it’s against the left post.
What They Said: Rhyan Grant: “We were a little bit off it and that’s what happened. I don’t think we’re far off.
“The last few weeks and tonight, we showed what we can do as we created a few good chances.
“We need to make sure we’re on it and we’ll keep training hard.
“Ufuk has a system and when it comes off it’s very good so hopefully we can keep building on that and that won’t be too far away.”
Match Report:
Sydney FC have been defeated 3-0 in the Big Blue after goals by Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli.
After a lively start to the match, Jake Girdwood-Reich was the first player to get a sniff on goal after Joel King released the ball, and it met the defender’s head at the back post.
Girdwood-Reich couldn’t generate enough power on his header to find the corner, although the attempt almost squeezed past Izzo’s hands.
Melbourne Victory drew first blood when Daniel Arzani received the ball on the left side of the Sydney FC half and dribbled it into the centre of the pitch. He then released the ball on his right foot, and it squeezed past Adam Pavlesic, sending the Sky Blues 1-0 down.
Victory doubled their lead three minutes later when Zinedine Machach lobbed the ball over Adam Pavlesic from a Jake Brimmer assist.
Sydney FC looked to respond immediately when Fabio Gomes found the back of the net. VAR denied his goal as he was millimetres ahead of Damien da Silva and offside.
Victory extended their lead to three when Bruno Fornaroli slotted the ball into the goal after Machach cut the ball into the feet of the striker.
As full-time beckoned, Sydney FC had 11 chances and dominated 76{3302a4a97df51ab71377f818b10857871066f471bffc8f5d55c900040a563c05} of possession, which troubled the Victories’ defence. Jaiden Kucharski’s 89th-minute header was the closest chance to a goal in the second half, but the final score ended 3-0.
Sydney FC will next look to their ‘Christmas Cracker’ game against Western United on the 23rd of December.
Sydney FC: 20. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 6. Jack RODWELL (4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS 69’), 8. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH (25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI 60’), 9. Fabio GOMES (13. Pat WOOD, 69’), 10. Joseph LOLLEY (28. Nathan AMANADITIS 87’), 11. Robert MAK, 15. Gabriel LACERDA, 16. Joel KING, 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT (21. Zac DE JESUS 87’), 26. Luke BRATTAN ©.
Unused Subs: 30. Gus HOEFSLOOT (GK), 19. Mitch GLASSON.
Yellow Cards: King (44’), Grant (71’)
Red Cards: None
Melbourne Victory: 20. Paul IZZO (GK), 3. Adama TRAORE, 5. Damien DA SILVA, 8. Zinedine MACHACH, 10. Bruno FORNAROLI, 11. Ben FOLAMI (7. Christopher IKONOMIDIS 69’), 14. Connor CHAPMAN (2. Jason GERIA 70’), 19. Daniel ARZANI (24. Eli ADAMS 82’), 21. Roderick MIRANDA ©, 22. Jake BRIMMER (18. Fabian MONGE 82’), 25. Ryan TEAGUE (6. Leigh BROXHAM).
Unused Subs: 40. Christian SICILIANO (GK), 28. Franco LINO.
Yellow Cards: Traore (48’), Brimmer (56’), Folami (66’), Fornaroli (90’)
Red Cards: None
Venue: AAMI Park
Referee: Adam Kersey
