Nine-man Sydney FC has secured a miserly 1-0 away win over Melbourne Victory in their National Youth League match, in a fiery encounter that produced three red cards.
Nine-man Sydney FC has secured a miserly 1-0 away win over Melbourne Victory in their National Youth League match, in a fiery encounter that produced three red cards.
The visitors were down to ten men within the first seven minutes when Adam Casey was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity but still managed to open the scoring with Kerim Bulut firing home a penalty, his eighth goal of the campaign, in the 12th minute.
Melbourne too, found themselves in trouble, when a lunging tackle from Peter Franjic in the 30th minute saw both teams down a man.
Then in the 73rd minute Sydney made life all the more difficult with Mitch Prentice being sent back to the change rooms for a blatant shove on Mate Dugandzic.
But it was the Blues that went ahead early at Epping Soccer Stadium with some tidy footwork from leading scorer Bulut deceiving Victory keeper Glen Moss, who subsequently felled the Sydney striker inside the box.
Moss was lucky to receive only a yellow and was sent the wrong way as Sydney seized the initiative.
Despite being a man down it was Sydney that looked the more likely to go on with things after the first goal, as it defied the odds to share a majority of possession.
Melbourne skipper Aziz Behich had one of the few good chances for the home side in the first half, smashing a close range shot straight into Sydney keeper Nenad Vekic, shortly before Franjic was sent from the ground.
And it was only after Melbourne also went down a man that it enjoyed a purple patch in the game.
Leading scorer Nathan Elasi started to look menacing as Behich was finding the ball out wide but the main problem for the Victory was the ease in which they were giving away the ball.
Sydney looked the more powerful side and seemed to stifle Melbourne-s forward movement with captain Antony Golec dominant in the air.
Bulut proved the game-s main threat, he worked his defender off the ball to flash narrowly past Moss in the 49th minute and saw the veteran keeper save from him once more from a low driven header in the 59th.
Sydney was showing real patience in its build up while the Victory looked hurried, again Bulut missed from close range in the 62nd minute and then fired over in the 70th but Sydney was constantly creating good opportunities.
Tempers flared late on as Prentice saw red for Sydney, following his shove on Dugandzic.
Players from both sides were involved in a skirmish as Sydney went down to nine men and that should-ve been the incentive Melbourne needed.
But despite more possession, Melbourne lacked penetration and continued to give away cheap passes.
Elasi-s shot straight at the keeper in the 79th minute with probably Melbourne-s best opportunity and not even Glen Moss charging up for the final corner could salvage a point for the Victory.
With the win Sydney moves into fifth, one point clear of Melbourne which drops down to sixth.
Melbourne: 0
Sydney FC: 1(Bulut 12th)
