Sydney FC has secured a 2-0 win against Adelaide United at Leichhardt Oval thanks to first Sky Blues goals to Reza Ghoochannejhad and Cameron Devlin. The win moves Sydney FC within five points of Hyundai A-League leaders Perth Glory.
Sydney FC has secured a 2-0 win against Adelaide United at Leichhardt Oval thanks to first Sky Blues goals to Reza Ghoochannejhad and Cameron Devlin. The win moves Sydney FC within five points of Hyundai A-League leaders Perth Glory.
Moments That Mattered:
- Ghoochannejhad Chance – 10’ – A double step over to make enough space for a shot is just dealt with by Izzo.
- Ghoochannejhad Goal – 14’ – Beautiful one touch football involving four players leads to ‘Gucci’ grabbing his first Sky Blue goal and the lead on the night.
- Ninkovic Brilliance – 18’ – Cushioning the ball sweetly, Ninkovic attempts the cheeky chip but it’s just tipped over.
- Ghoochannejhad Chance – 24’ – Reza strolls into the box to let rip with Izzo getting the slightest of touches to push the ball onto the post and out.
- Strain Chance – 39’ – Adelaide’s right back finds space but drags his shot wide of the post.
- Wilkinson Key Interception – 45+1’ – Blackwood rounds Redmayne on an angle to try and chip the ball in but the centre-half is there to head off the line.
- Devlin Goal – 90+4’ – The young substitute grabs a late goal following brilliant work from Brandon O’Neill to set him free.
Sydney FC asserted their dominance early and waited only a quarter of an hour to capitalise. Ghoochannejhad grabbed his first goal for the club following some brilliant one-touch lead up play that he finished off brilliantly by nutmegging Izzo.
Ninkovic and ‘Gucci’ came extremely close to doubling the lead with some fantastic efforts only for the Adelaide keeper to intervene and ensure a one goal deficit at the end of the first half.
Adelaide attempted to play themselves into the encounter but troubled little throughout a thoroughly professional performance by Corica’s men in the second half.
With Adelaide pushing many men forward, O’Neill sprung their defence to set up youngster Cameron Devlin to grab his first goal and seal all three points and sure up second spot on the ladder.
It’s a quick turn around for the side as they their attention to AFC Champions League duties at Jubilee Stadium on Wednesday night against Korean side Ulsan Hyundai.
What they said:
Alex Wilkinson:
[On the Premiers Plate race] “There’s a lot of football to be played and a lot of funny things can happen in football. We just focus on ourselves and if Perth start dropping points, we’ll be there to put the pressure on.”
Milos Ninkovic:
“If you look at the last couple of games, we played very well but weren’t able to score goals but today we got two and played really well again.
“I said before the season we lost a lot of players and staff but we have still made FFA Cup Final this season and we are second which is great.”
Reza Ghoochannejhad:
“I love it here in Sydney. I needed a little of time to adjust but now I’m getting to know my team mates more and more and feeling great to get my first goal and hopefully more to come.
Steve Corica:
“I’m very proud of the boys, they worked very hard. I think that was our best first half performance from an attacking point of view.
“The second half showed the other half of it, defending really well and grabbing a late goal at the end there. I’m really happy for Devlin and Reza to get their first goals.
“We still have a long way to go and we’re at 43% of where we can be. We’ll focus on ourselves and keep going.
“Reza hasn’t been here a long time so the combination between him and Adam is really working. Both very good strikers, both want to score goals…the team was excellent.
“We’re the only team to score in every game this year so it’s fantastic for our group of players and the belief they have to get goals and to win games.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 3. Benjamin WARLAND, 4. Alex WILKINSON, 6. Joshua BRILLANTE, 7. Michael ZULLO, 9. Adam Le FONDRE (2. Aaron CALVER 90+2’), 10. Milos NINKOVIC, 13. Brandon O’NEILL, 16. Reza GHOOCHANNEJHAD (24. Cameron DEVLIN 82’), 17. Anthony CACERES (31. Luke IVANOVIC 78’), 23. Rhyan GRANT.
Subs Not Used: 20. Aleksander CISAK (GK), 21. Mitchell AUSTIN.
Yellow Cards: None.
Red Cards: None.
Adelaide United: 20. Paul IZZO (GK), 2. Michael MARRONE, 3. Scott GALLOWAY, 4. Ryan STRAIN (27. Louis D’ARRIGO 86’), 6. Vince LIA, 8. ISAIAS, 11. Chris GOODWIN, 14. George BLACKWOOD, 16. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (7. Ryan KITTO 72’), 19. Jordy THOMASSEN (10. Ken ILSO 83’), 31. Mirko BOLLAND.
Subs not used: 1. Daniel MARGUSH (GK), 32. Carlo ARMIENTO.
Yellow Cards: 2. Michael MARRONE 68’
Red Cards: None.
Ground: Leichhardt Oval
Crowd: 11,217
Referee: Kurt Ams
