Sydney FC has booked themselves a home elimination final date against Macarthur FC after they equalled their largest winning margin in the club’s Isuzu UTE A-League competition history, 7-1 against Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium.
Sydney FC 7 (Courtney-Perkins 5’, Lolley 41’, Brattan 45+, Mak 68’, Mak, 73’ King 81’, Lolley 90’+1′) def. Perth Glory 1 (Taggart 58’)
Moments That Mattered:
5’ COURTNEY-PERKINS GOAL – From a free kick, Robert Mak lofts the ball and finds the head of Jordan Courtney Perkins at the back post. He dinks it into the bottom right corner.
38’ REDMAYNE SAVE – Giordano Colli hits the ball from a long distance towards the Sky Blues goal, and it finds the outstretched hands of Andrew Redmayne.
41’ LOLLEY GOAL – Jaiden Kucharski strikes the ball and it darts off Oliver Sail’s palms and into the legs of Joe Lolley and Mak. Lolley prods past Mak, takes a few touches, and pokes it into the back of the net.
45’+1′ BRATTAN PENALTY – Corey Hollman dribbles the ball into the six-yard box and crosses it. However, it finds Colli’s hand, and Jonathan Barreiro points to the spot after a VAR review. Brattan dispatches the penalty into the bottom left corner.
50’ GIRDWOOD-REICH CHANCE– Joe Lolley releases a free kick and finds Jack Rodwell. He directs his header to Jake Girdwood-Reich, and the defender dinks it towards the left side of the net, where Sail outstretches his palms and meets the ball.
58’ TAGGART GOAL – Adam Taggart receives the ball inside of the box and curls it into the top corner.
68’ MAK GOAL – Joe Lolley dances around a few players, and smashes it at Sail. It bounces off his palms into the head of Robert Mak, where he seals the Sky Blues’ home elimination final.
73’ MAK GOAL – Corey Hollman threads the ball through to Mak. He takes a touch around Sail and angles it into the bottom left corner.
81’ KING GOAL – Anthony Caceres switches to an open Joel King, who is free at the back post. The left-back buries it in the bottom right corner.
90’+1′ LOLLEY GOAL – Joe Lolley equals the Sky Blues’ highest ever winning margin when he dribbles around a Glory defender and curls it into the bottom left corner.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “We probably should have scored a few more. But overall, winning the way we did will breed a lot of confidence for the players leading into the game against Macarthur.
“In the first half we were good in moments. We started the game well scoring a set piece goal.
“Something we need to improve on was the defensive structure again at times. Second half was a lot better and the good side of it was that we create a lot of chances.
“I took [Luke Brattan] off at half-time because if he got another yellow, [he would get] suspended for next week’s game.
“[Fabio Gomes] has a got a tight hamstring. So, I’m hoping that he’ll be training with the group this week coming up.”
Match Report:
Sydney FC cruised to a 7-1 victory against Perth Glory at Allianz Stadium, booking themselves a home elimination final against Macarthur FC next weekend.
A double to Joe Lolley and Robert Mak as well as goals to Jordan Courtney Perkins, Luke Brattan and Joel King capped off a historic afternoon for the side as they equalised their highest winning margin in their A-League history.
With Sydney FC needing a win, it only took five minutes for them to draw first blood when Robert Mak’s free-kick found the head of Jordan Courtney-Perkins into the bottom right corner.
The Sky Blues did not retreat, unlocking Perth’s defence as they slickly weaved the ball from player to player.
Now having over 70% of possession, Sydney FC cruised keeping the ball in the final third and making the Glory have to counterattack with Stefan Colakovski and Mustafa Amini leading the down-field surge.
After a Perth attacking spell, the Sky Blues returned to their high press, trapping the stagnant Glory defence, but couldn’t find a defining touch.
The Glory continued to transition quickly, but they could not trouble Andrew Redmayne.
And, as halftime beckoned, the game began to open up, with end-to-end football occurring.
Giordano Colli was the next to challenge Andrew Redmayne seriously as he fired the ball and met Redmayne’s outstretched palms.
The Sky Blues responded immediately to Colli’s scare with Joe Lolley beating the keeper after a Jaiden Kucharski shot drew Oliver Sail out of position.
Sydney FC then took a more significant foothold in the game when Corey Hollman’s lob struck Colli’s hand inside the six-yard box. After VAR review, Jonathan Barreiro pointed to the spot, and Luke Brattan capitalised, sending the Sky Blues to 3-0 by halftime.
With the Glory not wanting to go ten games without a win, they came out energised as they wrestled to cut the deficit.
But, the Sky Blues were quick to muscle their way back into Perth’s half, seeing Jake Girdwood-Reich almost score Sydney FC’s fourth when his header met the palms of an outstretched Sail.
The Sky Blues continued to surge at Sail, sniffing for a fourth.
But, it was the Golden Boot leader Adam Taggart who broke Sydney FC’s three-goal buffer when he hit the ball into the top right corner.
Perth was unable to generate any further attacking flair, and ten minutes later, Robert Mak joined the scorer’s list when he capitalised off Sail’s save to Joe Lolley’s shot.
Sydney FC continued their onslaught when Corey Hollman pierced the ball into the feet of a running Mak. The Slovakian international took a touch before squeezing it in the bottom left corner.
Ufuk Talay’s men began now entertaining the crowd, moving the ball effortlessly into their opponent’s box, puppeteering with Perth as they continued to stream into the box.
Moments later, Joel King planted the Sky Blues’ sixth, and he profited off a picture-perfect Anthony Caceres switch.
As the Sky Blues hunted to equal their biggest-ever victory, Joe Lolley found the magic touch when he opened up the Glory’s defence and dispatched the ball in the bottom left corner.
Sydney FC will now look towards finals football, where they will play Macarthur FC at Allianz Stadium next weekend.
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (16. Joel KING 69′), 8. Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH, 10. Joe LOLLEY, 11. Robert MAK, 12. Corey HOLLMAN (18. Matthew SCARCELLA 85’), 17. Anthony CACERES, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI (22. Max BURGESS 61’), 26. Luke BRATTAN © (6. Jack RODWELL 46’), 27. Hayden MATTHEWS.
Unused Subs: 20. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 15. Gabriel LACERDA, 19. Mitch GLASSON.
Yellow Cards: Caceres (55’)
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 1. Oliver SAIL (GK), 2. Johnny KOUTROUMBIS, 3. Jacob MUIR, 7. Stefan COLAKOVSKI (9. David WILLIAMS 53’), 8. Mustafa AMINI (34. Andriano LEBIB 53’), 16. Josh RAWLINS, 17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO (77. Bruce KAMAU 66’), 20. Giordano COLLI (19. Trent OSTLER 53’), 22. Adam TAGGART ©, 23. Daniel BENNIE, 28. Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI.
Unused Subs: 13. Cameron COOK (GK), 27. Jayden GORMAN, 36. Koha NGO.
Yellow Cards: Stajcic (45+), Amini (45+), Colli (53’), Majekodunmi (62’), Taggart (64’)
Red Cards: None
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Jonathan Barreiro
Attendance: 13,225
