Sydney FC have gone down 1-0 to Wellington Phoenix despite dominating the game and having an appeal for a second half penalty turned down.
Oskar Zawada’s first half header was the difference as the Sky Blues had 18 shots to Phoenix’s nine and over 60% possession in the game.
Sydney FC 0 def. by Wellington Phoenix 1 (Zawada 20’)
Moments That Mattered:
MAK HITS THE POST – 12’ – Lolley nudges the ball to Mak on the edge of the box and he hits it first time and it cannons off the post.
ZAWADA GOAL – 20’ – Zawada wins a header inside the Sky Blues box and puts it past Redmayne.
LOLLEY SHOT SAVED – 31’ – Lolley cuts inside on his left foot and drills a low shot which Sail is down to parry.
CACERES OFF THE LINE – 37’ – David Ball heads the ball towards goal from a right wing corner but Anthony Caceres is on the post to head it away.
FANTASTIC REDMAYNE SAVE – 39’ – Sasse strikes a shot from distance and Redmayne tips it around the post diving full length to his left.
PENALTY APPEAL – 63’ – Robert Mak attempts to take on his man in the Phoenix box and is barged down but the referee waves it away.
CACERES SHOT SAVED – 74’ – A turn and shot from Caceres is beaten away by Sail and Retre’s follow up goes wide.
What They Said: Alex Wilkinson: “I thought we were on top for the whole game not just second half.
“I think they had one other shot in the first half and none in the second.
“At the same time they sat deep and made it hard to break down and we lacked a bit of quality in the final third to break them down and get a goal.
“Overall our performance was good but we’ve got to be better in that final third.”
Match Report: A dominant Sydney FC have been denied at Eden Park after a solitary Oskar Zawada header gave Wellington Phoenix a 1-0 win in Auckland.
Sydney FC controlled the game from start to finish with 71% of the game played in the Phoenix half and 30 more penalty box entries than their opponents (48-18).
Steve Corica’s men could have gone in front when Robert Mak hit the post in the opening 15 minutes.
Zawada headed home the only goal of the game in the 20th minute.
The biggest talking point in the game came in the 63rd minute when Robert Mak was up-ended in the box by Tim Payne and neither the referee or VAR deemed it to be a penalty, despite the defender failing to touch the ball and making contact with the Slovakian.
Caceres and substitute Jaiden Kucharski had chances late on but the Phoenix sat deep and held onto their lead.
Sydney FC: 1. ANDREW REDMAYNE (GK) ©, 2. JAMES DONACHIE, 3. JOEL KING, 4. ALEX WILKINSON ©, 8. PAULO RETRE (6. JACK RODWELL 80’), 10. JOE LOLLEY (21. ALEX PARSONS 80’), 11 ROBERT MAK (12. PATRICK WOOD 86’), 17. ANTHONY CACERES, 18. DIEGO CABALLO (25. JAIDEN KUCHARSKI 70’), 23. RHYAN GRANT, 26. LUKE BRATTAN.
Unused Subs: 30. ADAM PAVLESIC, 29. AARON GURD, 32. MATTHEW SCARCELLA.
Yellow Cards: Grant 77’.
Red Cards: None
Wellington Phoenix: 1. OLIVER SAIL, 4. SCOTT WOOTON, 5. STEVEN UGARKOVIC, 6. TIM PAYNE, 9. OSKAR ZAWADA, 10. DAVID BALL, 11. BOZHIDAR KRAEV (7. KOSTA BARBAROUSES 58’), 12. LUCAS MAURAGIS, 14. ALEX RUFER ©, 17. CALLAN ELLIOT, 31. YAN SASSE (21. JOSH LAWS 75’).
Unused Subs: 40. ALEX PAULSEN (GK), 8. BEN OLD, 13. NICK PENNINGTON, 15. NIKKO BOXALL, 24. OSKAR VAN HATTUM.
Yellow Cards: Sasse 41’,
Red Cards: None
Venue: Eden Park
Referee: Chris Beath
Attendance: 10,420
