Sydney FC are into 4th place after a thrilling 3-2 Sydney Derby victory which had goals, fantastic saves, a sending off and controversial moments.
Adam Le Fondre and a Trent Buhagiar double capped a memorable evening which saw Rhyan Grant become Sydney FC’s all time record appearance maker.
Sydney FC 3 (Le Fondre 2’, Buhagiar 66’, 71’) def. Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Hemed 17’, Russell 75’)
Moments That Mattered:
LE FONDRE GOAL – 2’ – Le Fondre receives the ball in the box turns and shoots into the far corner.
HEMED GOAL – 17’ – A header from a corner goes up in the air and Hemed wraps his foot around the ball to strike it into the corner.
TALBOT CHANCE – 24’ – Talbot finds himself in the box with time and hits a right foot shot towards the corner but Margush throws himself to his right to save.
BUHAGIAR GOAL DISALLOWED – 28’ – Grant crosses from the right to the back post where Buhagiar hits a shot which Margush fumbles into his goal. His blushes are spared by the linesman who rules Grant’s cross had crossed the goal-line.
LE FONDRE & TALBOT CHANCES – 33’ – Le Fondre back heels a left wing cross goalwards but Margush saves and it’s cleared for a corner from which Talbot smashes a long range shot which the keeper tips over.
GRANT OFF THE LINE – 35’ – An overhead kick from Hemed is cleared off the line by the head of Grant.
BUHAGIAR GOAL – 66’ – Ninkovic drives at the Wanderers defence and slips in Barbarouses who crosses to Le Fondre and the ball falls to Buhagiar who drills it home.
BUHAGIAR GOAL – 71’ – Retre wins the ball and releases the pace of Buhagiar who races clear, shows composure to come back inside his defender and finish left footed.
RUSSELL GOAL – 75’ – A looping header from Russell finds its way into the goal at the far post.
AQUILINA HIT THE POST – 85’ – Aquilani drives one from the edge of the box and it cannons off the post.
GRANT SENT OFF – 89’ – Rhyan Grant is sent from the field following a soft second yellow card after a slightly late tackle in his record breaking game.
PAVLESIC GREAT SAVE – 90’+2’ – A full length diving save from young keeper Adam Pavlesic following a thundering Baccus shot keeps the Sky Blues in the ascendency.
What They Said: Steve Corica: “I’m very proud of the players. It had everything tonight that derby and that’s what it is all about.
“To come out on top is even more important at this point in time.
“I’m pleased for a lot of the players, Buhagiar and Adam Pavlesic who we had to throw in.
“I had Adam [Le Fondre] lined up as a second keeper if we needed but it was a great night tonight.”
Sydney FC have won an enthralling Sydney Derby 3-2 in a match which boosts the Sky Blues Finals Series hopes and gives Western Sydney Wanderers a mountain to climb.
Adam Le Fondre put Sydney FC into the lead in the opening minutes with a swift turn and shot.
Wanderers were level on the quarter hour when Tomer Hemed pounced on a failure to clear a corner.
Sydney FC were unfortunate not to regain the lead through Le Fondre and Talbot but it was Trent Buhagiar who was the hero scoring two second half goals and having another ruled out before the break.
Russell pulled one back for the visitors and a red card to record breaker Rhyan Grant made for an even more dramatic finale but the Sky Blues held on.
Sydney FC: 30. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 2. James DONACHIE, 4. Alex WILKINSON, 8. Paulo RETRE, 10. Milos NINKOVIC (17. Anthony CACERES 67’), 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES (16. Luciano NARSINGH 76’), 12. Trent BUHAGIAR (6. Mustafa AMINI 87’), 14. Adam LE FONDRE (16. Luciano NARSINGH 76’), 23. Rhyan GRANT, 25. Callum TALBOT, 32. Patrick YAZBEK.
Unused Subs: 40. Max VARTULI (GK), 3. Ben WARLAND, 9. BOBÔ.
Yellow Cards: Grant 77’, Amini 96’.
Red Cards: Grant 89’.
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Daniel MARGUSH, 3. Adama TRAORE (13. Tate RUSSELL 73’), 10. Tomer HEMED (5. Jack RODWELL 73’), 11. Keijiro OGAWA (9. Bernie IBINI 94’), 14. James TROISI, 15. Tomislav MRCELA, 17. Keanu BACCUS, 23. Dimi PETRATOS (36. Alessandro LOPANE 73’), 25. Phillip CANCAR, 29. Terry ANTONIS (8. Steve UGARKOVIC 74’), 39. Thomas AQUILINA.
Subs: 20. Tomas MEJIAS, 2. Ziggy GORDON.
Yellow Cards: Troisi 47’, Baccus 86’, Mrcela 97’.
Red Cards: None
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Referee: Alireza Faghani
