Sydney FC put on a clinical display tonight in Gosford as Steve Corica’s side defeated the Central Coast Mariners 5-0.
Sydney FC 5 (Le Fondre 27′, 57′, 58′ Caceres 53′, Bobô 90+4) def. Central Coast Mariners 0
Moments that mattered:
LE FONDRE SHOT – 3’ – Sydney FC apply early pressure on the Mariners and Le Fondre tests Birighitti with a low shot which is put away for a corner.
LE FONDRE GOAL – 27 – Rhyan Grant whips in a beautiful cross which is well controlled by Adam Le Fondre who buries his shot after gliding past the Mariners defence.
MARINERS HIT THE POST – 34 – Béni Nkolo almost draws the Mariners level with a shot from outside the box which hits the crossbar.
CACERES GOAL – 53’ – Adam Le Fondre whips in a cross from the right which causes a scramble in the box. Anthony Caceres is there to force the ball in the back of the net and double Sydney FC’s lead.
LE FONDRE GOAL – 57’ – The English striker lashes home a cross from Trent Buhagiar to put Sydney FC 3-0 and send the travelling Cove into raptures.
LE FONDRE GOAL AND HAT-TRICK – 58’ – Scenes at the away end as the Mariners defence completely falls apart and Le Fondre coolly slots the ball into the top right corner to complete his hat-trick.
HEWARD-BELLE SAVE – 63’ – The Mariners threaten to strike back with Heward-Belle tipping over a header from Moresche.
BOBÔ GOAL – 90+4 – The Brazilian puts the cherry on the cake, heading home from a Max Burgess cross to cap off a famous win.
Match Report:
Sydney FC started the match brightly and controlled the match early on. Mariners’ goalkeeper Mark Birighitti was forced to make an early save from Adam Le Fondre and Steve Corica’s side made their intentions clear early on.
Sydney FC’s persistence was rewarded when a cross whipped in from the right by Rhyan Grant was taken by Adam Le Fondre who tucked his shot away into the bottom left corner. The goal was briefly checked by VAR as Trent Buhagiar was in an offside position, but the goal rightly stood.
Corica’s side were put under pressure early on from the start of the second half however the Sky Blues continued to make chances and they were soon rewarded when the home side failed to clear a cross from Adam Le Fondre which was rolled in by Anthony Caceres to make it 2-0.
Sydney FC soon put the game to bed when Adam Le Fondre tucked away Trent Buhagiar’s cross to send the Cove into delirium.
Le Fondre then completed his hat-trick no less then a minute later after the Mariners defence switched off entirely and the English striker had all the time in the world to place his shot into the top right hand corner.
Bobô entered the match late on for the Sky Blues and capped off a famous win for Steve Corica’s side with a well-placed header from Max Burgess’ cross.
Sydney FC: 20. Tom Heward-Belle (GK), 3. Ben Warland, 4. Alex Wilkinson, 8. Paulo Retre (6. Mustafa Amini 61’), 10. Milos Ninkovic (32. Patrick Yazbek 61’), 12. Trent Buhagiar (16. Luciano Narsingh 61’), 14. Adam Le Fondre (9. Bobô 72’), 17. Anthony Caceres, 22 (11. Kosta Barbarouses 61’). Max Burgess, 23. Rhyan Grant, 25. Callum Talbot.
Yellow Cards: Buhagiar 49’,
Red Cards:
Central Coast Mariners: 1. Mark Birighitti, 3. Liam Miller, 4. Josh Nisbet, 9. Jason Cummings (7. Cy Goddard 88’), 11. Béni Nkololo (36. Garang Kuol 85’), 12. Marco Ureña (10. Moresche 54’), 14. Kye Rowles, 16. Max Balard (34. Harrison Steele 72’), 18. Jacob Farrell, 23. Daniel Hall, 25. Matt Hatch (Nicolai Müller 54’).
Yellow Cards: Miller 55’,
Red Cards:
