Sydney FC 1 (Le Fondre 37’) defeated Perth Glory 0
Sydney FC have inflicted a third defeat of the season on Hyundai A-League Premiers Perth Glory, their second against the Sky Blues, thanks to an instinctive Adam Le Fondre goal to send him top of the league goal-scoring charts.
Moments That Mattered:
- Early Chance 2’ – Le Fondre makes a break down the right flank and finds himself inside the box, but his ball into the centre couldn’t find a Sky Blue despite multiple players in the vicinity.
- Santalab Miss 26’ – A nice counter attack from the visitors opens it up for Santalab who takes the shot from distance but puts it low and wide to keep scores level going into the half-hour mark.
- Le Fondre Goal 37’ – A well-timed lofted cross from Caceres allows Retre to head it back in towards goal for Le Fondre, and the striker angles his body well to guide the ball in from close range.
- Retre Miss 50’ – The Sky Blues get the first real chance of the second stanza when Retre finds himself inside the box but was unable to get the shot on target from a difficult angle.
- O’Neill Miss 76’ – Things continue to open up for the home side late into the second half and O’Neill decides to have a crack from long-range, but it sails just over the bar and keeps the lead at just the one goal.
On a night where Sydney FC’s fans said thank you to retiring captain Alex Brosque, the Hyundai A-League’s top scorer Adam Le Fondre produced yet another important goal to topple Premiers Perth Glory 1-0, just a fortnight out from this season’s finals.
Sydney FC were dominant for the opening 45 minutes with Socceroos star Rhyan Grant providing plenty of energy for the hosts and producing a plethora of his trademark forward runs as well.
However, it was the competition’s leading goalscorer Le Fondre who would open proceedings in the 37th minute, pouncing on a header from Paulo Retre and tapping it in from close range to give the home side the lead going into the break.
Sydney FC continued to dominate the contest well into the second half and there were chances for Retre and Brandon O’Neill, but neither were able to capitalise on the opportunities the Sky Blues created.
Glory threw plenty at Sydney FC in the dying stages of the match but a fantastic defensive effort from the back four and goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne kept their opponents at bay, and ultimately allowed the Sky Blues to hang on for a huge victory.
Sydney FC will now travel to Shanghai for a clash with Shanghai SIPG on Tuesday night, before returning home for a final-round encounter with Newcastle Jets next Saturday night after which the Finals Series commences.
What They Said: Head Coach Steve Corica: “I thought it was very good. They didn’t have a shot on target so defensively we were outstanding and after we scored they were always going to put us under pressure but the defence was fantastic.
“With the ball I thought we were good. Some games you have to win 1-0 and we showed great character to do that tonight.
“Every game is important here and we needed three points to put pressure on Melbourne tomorrow. They’ve had a very good season Perth and congratulations to them for winning the Premiers Plate but our boys were fantastic tonight.
“They had players out tonight but so did we, having Zullo out and also Brosque so we’ll have to wait and see what happens if we meet them again.
“It could be the matchup in the final but there’s plenty of football left to be played and it’s a mental game now because we have beaten them twice now.
“Our strength and conditioning coach works very hard on our fitness and the boys are responding well to that even though we’ve played a lot of games.”
“You only have to look at Rhyan Grant, it’s unbelievable and he has so much energy. Rhyan gives us so much go forward and also can get back just as quick and I thought he was outstanding for us tonight.:
“Caceres is improving in each game he plays as well and he does a lot of work defensively. He does go under the radar a bit but as the season has gone on he has continued to improve and he’s doing a great job for us too.
“Victory know they have to win tomorrow otherwise second place is gone, so our result tonight puts a lot of pressure on them and I’m sure Adelaide will give them a really good game tomorrow night.”
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK) 2. Aaron CALVER 4. Alex WILKINSON © 6. Josh BRILLANTE 8. Paulo RETRE 9. Adam LE FONDRE (18. Jacob TRATT 90’+3’) 10. Milos NINKOVIC 13. Brandon O’NEILL 17. Anthony CACERES (11. Daniel DE SILVA 84’) 22. Siem DE JONG (16. Reza GHOOCHANNEJHAD 71’) 23. Rhyan GRANT
SUBS NOT USED: 20. Alex CISAK (GK) 21. Mitch AUSTIN
Yellow Cards: None.
Red Cards: None.
Perth Glory: 4. Shane LOWRY © 5. Ivan FRANJIC 7. Joel CHIANESE 11. Brendon SANTALAB 16. Tomislav MRCELA 20. Jake BRIMMER (29. Kristian POPOVIC 75’) 21. Jacob ITALIANO (17. Diego CASTRO 45’) 22. Fabio FERREIRA (14. Chris HAROLD 72’) 23. Scott NEVILLE 33. Liam REDDY (GK) 88. Neil KILKENNY
SUBS NOT USED: 1. Tando VELAPHI (GK) 15. Brandon WILSON
Yellow Cards: Franjic 44’, Santalab 78’
Red Cards: None.
Ground: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Attendance: 11,227
Referee: Chris Beath
