Sydney FC had their 2011 AFC Champions League dreams ended by Suwon Bluewings as the Sky Blues succumbed to a 3-1 loss at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on Tuesday night.
Sydney FC had their 2011 AFC Champions League dreams ended by Suwon Bluewings as the Sky Blues succumbed to a 3-1 loss at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on Tuesday night.
Two free-kicks was all it took for Suwon to grab a 2-0 lead and, despite Bruno Cazarine offering some hope with his goal a minute after Suwon-s second, the Sky Blues looked outclassed. It was emphasised by the Bluewings third goal; a cracking strike that left Sydney-s defence stunned.
The loss officially put an end to Sydney FC-s campaign. Four points behind both of the top two with just one game in hand leaves the Sky Blues licking their wounds along with the last placed Shanghai Shenhua.
The Sky Blues last match is away to Kashima Antlers in Tokyo and, despite being knocked out of the competition, will be eager to prove their credibility with a positive result against one of Asia-s heavyweights.
“Credit to Suwon, they played well and were strong for the entire game. We did fight and got one goal back but they in the end deserved to win and qualify,” Sky Blues coach Vitezslav Lavicka said.
“The Sydney FC team tried hard but Suwon were very good. There defence was big but moved very well and their attack was fast paced. We score a goal to get it back to 2-1 but they scored another.”
Sydney FC had conceded an early goal in their previous away match in the Champions League and were eager not to repeat the feat in Korea. The mission was successful, but not without numerous scares as Kwak Hee-Joo-s 15th minute header struck the crossbar and Liam Reddy was forced to trek well out of his area and intercept Stephan Keller-s poor back pass almost latched upon by an eager Suwon striker.
Though Sydney survived any danger for the first half an hour, the Suwon set-pieces continued to haunt the Sky Blues and it was through a deep free kick that the home side snatched the lead. A curling ball into the near post went by undetected and unprepared for by all bar Hee-Joo, and this time the 29-year-old had no issue in finding the net as a stranded Liam Reddy could do nothing to stop the header.
It took just a few minutes before Suwon were troubling from another set-piece and the crossbar was startled for the second time when yet another corner found an unmarked man in the box. The blow was heavy for Sydney after displaying a bout of insistent pressure with a goal looking imminent. But the chance was not exploited, and instead a goal was registered at the other end.
The second half showed no signs of indifference to the first term when Mato struck an un-saveable free kick into the top corner. While the strike was a spectacular effort not short of the highest praise, it was yet another set-piece that was Sydney-s undoing.
But, in an amazing turn of events, Cazarine made sure Suwon enjoyed their two goal buffer for no longer than a minute when, six minutes after the break, he opened Sydney-s account.
It was Rhyan Grant who, on as a substitute for Hiro Moriyasu, brought the ball to the byline and showed a direct and straight-forward approach with a cross drilled into the box. The defending was questionable and a 50/50 between Bridge and his marker led to the ball falling to the feet of Cazarine who showed no hesitation in securing his third goal in two games.
The trading of blows led to a more open and attacking match. Suwon displayed no intent of giving up their top two place without a fight and battled hard to regain their two goal lead.
They nearly completed the trifecta of set-piece goals when a header off a corner flashed just past the far post not long past the hour. The surge from the Koreans continued and a brilliant bit of play around the box ended with a strike rattling the side-netting.
Sydney showed attacking ambitions of their own as they pushed men forward in a desperate bid to keep their campaign alive. A tremendous pass from Carle released Andrew Durante and opened up a three on one.
But when Durante attempted to give either of the two free Sky Blue-s attackers a sight on goal, he hit his out-side of the foot pass at an angle that allowed Jung Sung-Ryong to surge from his line and collect the ball.
It was a wasted chance that Sydney were made to pay for. With eight minutes remaining Yeom Gi-Hoon, given room on the side of the box, didn-t think twice in shooting. A rocket strike from a near unthinkable angle beat Reddy and secured the three points for Suwon Bluewings.
Match Detail:
Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC: 3 (28. Tae Goon HA 34′, 2. Mato NERETLJAK 50′, 26. Ki Hoon YEOM 80′)
Sydney FC: 1 (9. Bruno CAZARINE 51′)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC line-up: 1. Sung Ryong JUNG (gk), 2. Mato NERETLJAK, 3. Sang Min YANG, 6. Yong Rae LEE, 8. Sang Ho LEE (11. Gustavo Da Silva BERGSON 84′), 9. Jang Eun OH (13. Kyung Hwan LEE 73′), 14. Beom Seok OH, 18. Jong Jin PARK (26. Ki Hun YEOM 61′), 24. Jae Won HWANG, 28. Tae Goon HA, 29. Hee Ju KWAK
Substitutes Not Used: 10. Sung Kuk CHOI (c), 16. Ji-Hun CHO, 21. Dae Hwan KIM (gk), 30. Se Gyn SIN.
Yellow Cards: Nil.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 28. Tae Goon HA 34′, 2. Mato NERETLJAK 50′, 26. Ki Hoon YEOM 80′.
Sydney FC line-up: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 3. Stephan KELLER, 5. Andrew DURANTE, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU (23. Rhyan GRANT 46′), 8. Stuart MUSIALIK (14. David WILLIAMS 63′), 9. Bruno CAZARINE, 10. Nick CARLE, 15. Terry McFLYNN (c), 17. Matthew JURMAN, 19. Mark BRIDGE (11. Kofi DANNING 79′), 21. Scott JAMIESON.
Substitutes Not Used: 2. Sebastian RYALL, 12. Shannon COLE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 26. Joel CHIANESE.
Yellow Cards: 21. Scott JAMIESON 33′, 3. Stephan KELLER 39′.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 9. Bruno CAZARINE 51′
Referee: Irmatov Ravshan (UZB)
Crowd: 9 495 at Big Bird Suwon World Cup Stadium
