Sydney FC have marched into the top six after a first half masterclass against the Mariners.
An Anthony Caceres showcase in the opening 20 minutes and a solid defensive effort in the second half, saw the Sky Blues score three goals, which the Mariners were unable to match, seeing Sydney FC climb into the top six.
Sydney FC 3 (Grant 4’, Caceres 8’, HALL (OG) 20’) def. Central Coast Mariners 1 (Torres 56’)
Moments that Mattered:
4’ GRANT GOAL – Anthony Caceres lofts the ball over the defence from the reworked corner and Rhyan Grant sneaks in around the back to nod the ball over Vukovic and into the net.
8’ CACERES GOAL- Corey Hollman threads the ball through to Caceres, who dances around four defenders and scores in the far corner.
20’ HALL OWN GOAL- Sydney FC go three up inside 20 minutes after Fabio’s head finds the running feet of Caceres, who crosses the ball into the six-yard box. But, it takes a deflection off Daniel Hall into the back of the net with Pat Wood waiting for a tap in.
29’ WOOD CHANCE- Vukovic messes up his footwork, and Pat Wood picks the ball off him, but his shot goes wide of the post.
51’ REDMAYNE SAVE – Rhyan Grant’s shot finds the hands of Vukovic, and Central Coast swiftly moves up the field, where Jing Reec picks it up and drives it towards the Sydney goal, but Andrew Redmayne blocks well
56’ TORRES GOAL – Storm Roux lays the ball off to Angel Torres, who gets one back for the Mariners.
What They Said: Rhyan Grant & Ufuk Talay
Grant: “We started really well in the first half and in the second they came out firing, but defensively we did enough, but it was a little bit scrappy.
“They are a very good team so we wanted to get on top of them early and get that buffer and that’s what we did.”
Talay: “I think the boys did very well, we scored three but should have got another one as well to get the game done and dusted. Second half they came out and were very direct with a lot of forward runs which caused some moments for them but overall, very pleased.
“I just put my arm around him [Wood] and told him to continue to go to the right areas and that’s why we praise him, and those moments that we tried to create. They [Misses] are going to happen but we’ll go again.”
Match Report:
Sydney FC have continued their three-game unbeaten streak after defeating the second-placed Central Coast Mariners 3-1 in Gosford, which sees them record their seventh win of the Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Three goals in the space of 20 minutes to Rhyan Grant, Anthony Caceres and an own goal by Daniel Hall stretched the lead out too far for Central Coast to recover from, despite Angel Torres scoring in the 56th minute with the Sky Blues holding on for all three points.
Sydney FC started energetically, recording almost 90{98698ff7ed92b99d4e0cecdfdc9e4dccf4922e0a04ff9db373daf4aa83b73fe2} of possession before Grant nodded the ball over Danny Vukovic following an Caceres header in the fourth minute.
The Sky Blues continued to press high and four minutes later, they found their second when Caceres dribbled around four players and slotted the ball in the back of the net after a Corey Hollman through ball that split the Mariners defence.
Sydney FC stretched the deficit to three when Daniel Hall deflected Caceres’ cross into the box past Vukovic and the home crowd were left stunned as their 12 game unbeaten run was in jeopardy.
The Sky Blues kept their intensity up, cruising into the break having double the number of passes in the Central Coast’s final third, which almost saw a fourth from Pat Wood in the 29th minute that somehow saw his effort spray wide.
Following an almost picture-perfect first half, in the second, Sydney FC had the first significant shot on target when Grant guided the ball into the arms of Vukovic rather than past him. Immediately after, the Mariners shot up the field where Jing Reec called Andrew Redmayne into the match for the first time, where he denied Central Coast’s opener in a one on one situation.
Five minutes after the Mariners’ first real chance, Angel Torres reduced their deficit when he picked up the ball and ran into the six-yard box before releasing it past Redmayne.
As the half progressed, momentum evened out, causing tension to foster between both teams as the occasion became cagey, and both teams conceded yellow cards.
It was a nervy final ten minutes as Central Coast began to wrestle with Sydney, but they could not find the back of the net, seeing the Sky Blues win 3-1.
Sydney FC will look to extend their four-game unbeaten streak when they face Adelaide United back at Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 8. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH, 9. Fabio GOMES (25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI 60’), 10. Joe LOLLEY, 12. Corey HOLLMAN (18. Matthew SCARCELLA, 66’), 13. Pat WOOD (11. Robert MAK 60’), 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26. Luke BRATTAN ©, 27. Hayden MATTHEWS (21. Zac DE JESUS 86’).
Unused Subs: 20. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 22. Max BURGESS, 28. Nathan AMANATIDIS.
Yellow Cards: Matthews (75’).
Red Cards: None
Central Coast Mariners: 20. Danny VUKOVIC (GK) ©, 2. Mikael DOKA (17. Jing REEC HT’), 3. Brian KALTAK, 4. Josh NISBET, 6. Maximilien BALARD, 7. Christian THEOHAROUS (15. Storm ROUX HT’ (37. Bailey BRANDTMAN 90’)), 11. Angel TORRES, 18. Jacob FARRELL, 23. Daniel HALL, 39. Miguel DI PIZIO (22. Ronald BARCELLOS 58’), 99. Ryan EDMONSON (9. Alou KUOL 70’).
Unused Subs: 30. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 33. Nathan PAULL.
Yellow Cards: Hall (42’), Kaltak (66’), Torres (89’).
Red Cards: None
Referee: Johnathan Barreiro
Venue: Industree Group Stadium