Sydney FC have been defeated in heart-breaking fashion in their first trip to face Auckland FC.
A late goal for the home side won the game 1-0 while Sydney FC were denied their own late strike after a VAR check disallowed Hayden Matthews’ goal for an earlier offside.
Sydney FC 0 def. by Auckland FC 1 (Pijnaker 90’+6’)
Moments That Mattered
21’ | REDMAYNE SAVE – Rogerson gets clear beyond the back four but blasts his shot straight at Redmayne.
22’ | COURTNEY PERKINS BLOCKS SHOT – The defender gets back brilliantly to lunge and block a goal bound shot from May.
56’ | GILLION HITS BAR – A throughball finds Gillion who neatly lifts the ball over Redmayne but it cannons off the bar.
59’ | PENALTY APPEAL TURNED DOWN – Klimala is dragged to the floor by De Vries in the penalty box but the referee Shaun Evans waves away the claims for a penalty and VAR does not intervene.
82’ | COURTNEY-PERKINS DENIED – Ouahim feeds the ball through to Courtney-Perkins and the left back drills it towards the top corner on the angle but the keeper tips over.
83’ | MATTHEWS GOAL DISALLOWED – A goal mouth scramble is cleared and when Ouahim fires the ball back into the box Matthews deflects it home off the post for his first A-League goal, however it’s disallowed for an offside in the VAR.
90’+6’ | PIJNAKER GOAL – A left wing free kick into the box is backheeled across the line by Pijnaker with question marks surrounding a foul on Popovic and handball in the lead up.
Match Report: Sydney FC have been defeated by a controversial late winner for Auckland FC in the 6th minute of injury time.
The Sky Blues had the ball in the net themselves in the 83rd minute but Hayden Matthews had a first ever A-League goal chalked off for an earlier offside.
It allowed Auckland to go on and win the game when Pijnaker backheeled the ball into the net following a left wing free kick, despite calls for a foul on defender Alex Popovic and the ball appearing to hit the arm of Pijnaker.
Earlier Redmayne made a great save in 21 minutes when Rogerson went clear only to be denied by the Sydney FC keeper before Courtney-Perkins made a last-ditch tackle to block May’s shot in a first half of little chances.
The Kiwis almost took the lead just before the hour when Gillion hit the bar following a good ball from Gallegos.
Minutes later appeals for a penalty were turned down when Klimala was dragged to the floor by De Vries with VAR suggesting mutual holding.
The action was condensed into the final minutes when Courtney-Perkins had a fantastic shot saved before the late drama ensued.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “The output of our players was very good considering all the travel we’ve done, we’d never use that as an excuse.
“We played some good football at times, created some good moments and they created some moments as well.
“I thought it was a good atmosphere, a good turnout and noise from the home fans.
“Disappointed not to capitalise on our good moments but overall disappointed to concede from a set piece at the end.
“I believe it’s a handball which leads to the goal. We had one last year similar where Jordy scored against Wellington, it hit his arm and then he finished it and it was disallowed so I don’t know how VAR missed that.
“Even before that I think it’s a foul on Popovic for a shove in the back, that’s my opinion.
“They took their time to disallow our goal and they went through it very quickly to allow the goal on the other side.”
Rhyan Grant: “We are pretty disappointed, I thought we did pretty well considering the circumstances and then to concede quite late is not great.
(On the disallowed goal) “From the still shot I saw it was obviously offside which is hard to take.
“We said there’s no excuses, to play every couple of days is a pleasure and even though there was some travel involved.
“A disappointing way to end.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (16. Joel KING 89’), 5. Hayden MATTHEWS, 6. Corey HOLLMAN (7. Adrian SEGECIC 50’), 8. Anas OUAHIM, 9. Patryk KLIMALA, 10. Joe LOLLEY (13. Pat WOOD 35’)( 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI 89’), 15. Leo SENA, 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT (C), 41. Alex POPOVIC.
Unused Subs: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 28. Nathan AMANTIDIS, 37. Will KENNEDY.
Yellow Cards: Grant 67’.
Red Cards: None.
Auckland FC: 12. Alex PAULSEN (GK), 2. Hiroki SAKAI, 4. Nando PIJNAKER, 6. Louis VERSTRAETE, 7. Cam HOWIESON (22. Jake BRIMMER 65’), 10. Guillermo MAY, 14. Liam GILLION, 15. Francis DE VRIES, 23. Dan HALL, 27. Logan ROGERSON (21. Jesse RANDALL 65’), 28. Felipe GALLEGOS.
Subs: 1. Michael WOUD (GK), 5. Tommy SMITH, 9. Max MATA, 17. Callan ELLIOT, 18. Finn McKENLAY.
Yellow Cards: Gallegos 25’.
Red Cards: None
Venue: Go Media Stadium
Referee: Shaun Evans
Attendance: 14,253
