Sydney FC has withstood a late onslaught by the Brisbane Roar to record a 2-1 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday, a result which saw them return to the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder.
Sydney FC has withstood a late onslaught by the Brisbane Roar to record a 2-1 victory at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday, a result which saw them return to the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder.
Second half goals from Alex Brosque and Karol Kisel paved the way for the victory, giving the Sky Blues the lead they needed to stave off a late strike by substitute Isaka Cernak.
“Coach (Viteslav Lavicka) told us to punish them,” said Brosque, referring to Lavicka-s half-time instructions. “It-s good (that) we took our second half chances.”
It was the visitors who had the first real chance midway through the first half with Mitch Nichols-s glancing header forcing a smart save from Clint Bolton.
A minute later, Kisel almost gave the home fans something to cheer about but his powerful long-range attempt had Brisbane keeper Griffin McMaster at full stretch.
From then on it was all Sydney as midfielders Steve Corica and Stuart Musialik directing traffic. In the 27th minute, a deep Shannon Cole cross was met superbly at the back post by Brosque but the latter-s header drifted just wide.
Two minutes later, Sung-Hwan Byun cut in from the left before unleashing a right-foot bolter that flew just over.
Brisbane started the second half strongly but unfortunately lost their tricky forward Reinaldo to injury with the Brazilian replaced by Cernak in the 53rd minute.
Two minutes later, the hosts took the lead after Bridge found Corica on the edge of the box with chipped pass. The Sydney captain spotted Brosque making a run into the box and headed the ball into the ex-Roar player-s path.
Brosque showed exemplary strength to hold his marker off before curling the ball past McMaster for his second goal of the season.
In the 69th minute, Brosque turned provider, running onto a clever header by Bridge before unselfishly laying the ball off to Kisel. The Slovakian midfielder scored his first goal of the season and made it 2-0 thanks to an unerring finish into the bottom corner.
“I wanted to score,” said Kisel. “We had to push on, I trusted that we would win and I trusted that I would score.”
The Roar hit back three minutes later through Cernak-s classy volley off a Tommy Oar cross from the left.
Sydney substitute John Aloisi should have made the game safe for the Sky Blues late on but his header sailed agonizingly wide with McMaster well beaten.
Brisbane continued their late surge with Qantas Young Socceroo defender Luke Devere unlucky to see his effort flash across the face of the Sydney goal.
Five minutes later, Cernak found space inside the box and fired in a low cross which was missed by both Nichols and Sergio van Dijk.
Deep in injury time, Sebastian Ryall spared Sydney-s blushes as he hacked the ball to safety away from the congested penalty box.
“In the first half, the opponent played very good defence,” said Sydney coach Viteslav Lavicka after the match. “In the second half, we played much better, but we finished the game under pressure, my heart rate was over 200.”
That turned out to be the final kick of the game as Vitezslav Lavicka-s men hung on for the deserved victory. They will now face a Wellington Phoenix side high on confidence after a 6-0 thumping of Gold Coast United next Sunday at the SFS.
Match Detail
Sydney FC 2 (Alex BROSQUE 53-, Karol KISEL 68-)
Brisbane Roar 1 (Isaka CERNAK 72-)
Sydney FC Line-up: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 4. Simon COLOSIMO, 6. Karol KISEL (17. Matthew JURMAN 90-), 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 10. Steve CORICA (c) (9. John ALOISI 61-), 12. Shannon COLE, 14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN, 19. Mark BRIDGE (23. Rhyan GRANT 81-), 22. Sung Hwan BYUN.
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk).
Yellow Cards: 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN 90-.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 14. Alex BROSQUE 53-, 6. Karol KISEL 68-.
Brisbane Roar Line-up: 20. Griffin McMASTER (gk), 3. Luke DEVERE, 5. Josh McCLOUGHAN, 9. Sergio VAN DIJK, 11. REINALDO (19. Isaka CERNAK 53-), 12. Matt MUNDY (2. Andrew PACKER 66-), 15. Matt McKAY, 17. Mitch NICHOLS, 21. Tommy OAR, 27. Ivan FRANJIC, 29 Mario KARLOVIC.
Substitutes Not Used: 6. David DODD, 40. Vedran JANJETOVIC (gk), 23. Tim SMITS.
Yellow Cards: 2. Andrew PACKER 77-.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 19. Isaka CERNAK 72-.
Referee: Matthew Breeze.
Crowd: 8,456 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
