Sydney FC have gone down narrowly away to Japanese league leaders Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the AFC Champions League 2, despite having dominated the first half and more than held their own in the second.
The Sky Blues will rue two great first half chances and were undone by a fantastic volley from Shunki and a defensive mistake which allowed the home side to go 2-0 up.
Adrian Segecic pulled one back late on but Sydney FC were unable to find the equaliser despite pressure.
Sydney FC 1 (Segecic 90’) def. by Hiroshima Sanfrecce 2 (Shunki 20’, Soitiriou 56’)
Moments That Mattered
12’ | COURTNEY-PERKINS CHANCE – Wonderful play from Sydney FC ends with Costa playing a delightful ball with the outside of his boot to Klimala inside the edge of the box. The Pole plays it inside to Courtney-Perkins who hits a quick shot but it’s saved by the keeper’s legs.
20’ | SHUNKI GOAL – Shunki hits a superb left foot volley beyond Redmayne from a right wing cross deep to the back post. Great finish.
45’ | GRANT HITS THE POST – A fantastic in-swinging left footed cross from Douglas Costa is pushed out by the keeper to Rhyan Grant who hits the post from a tight angle.
56’ | SOTIRIOU GOAL – Ball is given away on the edge of the box and Arslan feeds Sotiriou who turns and finishes low, despite a hint of offside which wasn’t given.
79’ | BRAVE REDMAYNE SAVE – A lost ball in midfield allows Sanfrecce to break and when Soitirou receives the ball in front of goal a brave Redmayne spreads himself to save with his head from point blank range.
85’ | LOLLEY FREE-KICK WIDE – Lolley hits a well worked free kick just wide of the post.
90’ | SEGECIC GOAL – Sydney FC pull one back when Burgess plays a one-two with Caceres and cuts the ball back to Segecic unmarked on the edge of the box to finish well.
90’+1’ | SEGECIC CHANCE – Segecic receives the ball on the edge of the box after a positive forward move but blasts the ball at the keeper who saves.
Match Report: Sydney FC lost their first match of the AFC Champions League 2 to Sanfrecce Hiroshima but will take positives from the match having dominated the Japanese league leaders for long periods.
The Sky Blues went down 2-1 after the home side scored an fantastic opening goal from Shunki, who volleyed home from range inside the first 20 minutes.
Sydney FC had earlier had a great chance to score when a fantastic piece of play between Costa and Klimala set up Courtney-Perkins, but the defender had to take his shot early and the keeper saved.
Douglas Costa’s left foot was working it’s magic yet again and it twice set up Rhyan Grant at the far post but the Sky Blues skipper could only watch as his attempts were cleared, with the second one hitting the post.
Sanfrecce doubled the lead eleven minutes into the second half when Matthews was dispossessed and Cypriot striker Sotiriou finished on the turn from an Arslan pass.
Goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne made a fantastic save from the Cypriot towards the end of the game before Adrian Segecic pulled one back with a fine finish following good work from fellow substitute Max Burgess.
The young Academy graduate had a great chance to secure a point a minute later when his swerving shot was saved by the Japanese keeper and the Sky Blues will look to reverse the result in the home game at Jubilee Stadium in two weeks.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “I’m disappointed we lost the game but overall very proud of the performance of the boys tonight
“I thought it was a very good display of football and the brand that we can play.
“We conceded the first goal from a counter and a good volley from the back post.
“The second one was a mistake from us but overall with the ball we had some really good moments and we could have scored early in the first half.
“I’m just disappointed for the boys that they didn’t get something from the game.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (16. Joel KING 87’), 5. Hayden MATTHEWS, 8. Anas OUAHIM (22. Max BURGESS 87’), 9. Patryk KLIMALA, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Douglas COSTA (6. Corey HOLLMAN 57’), 15. Leo SENA (7. Adrian SEGECIC 80’), 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT (C), 41. Alex POPOVIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 13. Pat WOOD, 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 28. Nathan AMANTIDIS, 37. Will KENNEDY.
Yellow Cards: Klimala 16’, Popovic 17’, Sena 65’.
Red Cards: None.
Sanfrecce Hiroshima: 1. Keisuke OSAKO, 4. Hayato ARAKI (33. Tsukasa SHIOTANI 6’), 13. Naoto ARAI, 14. Taishi MATSUMOTO, 15. Shuto NAKANO, 19. Sho SASAKI, 24. Shunki HIGASHI, 30. Tolgay ARSLAN (35. Yotaro NAKAJIMA 68’), 50. Mutsuki KATO, 66. Hayao KAWABE, 99. Goncalo Mendes PACIENCIA (20. Pieros SOTIRIOU 45’).
Subs: 21. Yudai TANAKA (GK), 5. Hiroya MATSUMOTO, 6. Toshihiro AOYAMA, 9. Douglas VIERA, 10. MARCOS JR, 11. Makoto MITSUTA, 16. Takaaki SHICHI, 25. Yusuke CHAJIMA.
Yellow Cards: Paciencia 38’, Arslan 65’
Red Cards: None
Venue: Hiroshima Soccer Stadium
Referee: Yahya Almulla (UAE)
