Sydney FC and Shanghai Shenhua have played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Match Day three of the 2011 AFC Champions League at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday night.
Sydney FC and Shanghai Shenhua have played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in Match Day three of the 2011 AFC Champions League at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday night.
Stand-in captain Stuart Musialik led from the front as he controlled the midfield from deep with controlled balls and dominating the space and despite going down a goal in just the sixth minute, the Sky Blues quickly levelled.
Click here for post game press conference video and here for images.
However with Shanghai then flooding back in defence, Sydney FC couldn-t snare the elusive winner.
Sydney FC now have a must win home game against Japan-s Kashima Antlers – their third and final home fixture – next Wednesday night at the SFS (8pm kick-off).
“Firstly we didn-t start the game well but we fought back quickly. We kept possession for most of the game but could not finish off in attack,” Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka said.
“I think we did plenty of good crossing in the game but we weren-t good enough to penetrate. They blocked many attempts. They were dangerous when we attacked as they had two players drop back to get us on the counter attack.
“We created chances but we expected more than one point from this game.”
The attacking philosophy from Lavicka allowed the Sky Blues to play with flair and authority as David Williams, Mark Bridge and Nicky Carle terrorised the Shanghai defence.
It was a horrid start for the Sky Blues when Luis Salmeron beat a rushing Matthew Jurman to a header and released Duvier Riascos. The 2010 Chinese Super League top scorer had his shot deflect off Sebastian Ryall and past a helpless Liam Reddy to send the home crowd into shock
Though it was a mistake not dwelled on by Sydney and in the 12th minute it was Musialik, with the captain-s armband, who stood up and re-ignited his side with a superb ball from deep to Cazarine on the edge of the area. The Brazilian controlled and played a ball across the edge of the box to Nick Carle who made no mistake with his first-time shot.
The stand-in skipper followed it up minutes- later with a magnificent chip to put Hiro Moriyasu through on goal but the midfielder couldn-t convert the chance.
Musialik-s spark lifted the home-side as he continued to control the match from a deep role in midfield. The reassurance of the captain-s solidarity allowed the attacking four to play with a certain flair and creativity they have not always been able to express.
David Williams pace and energy on the right wing was a fresh breath the Sky Blues needed to expand in attack and he consistently terrorised substitute When Huyi. His pressing allowed him space which led to a double stop from the Shanghai defence as they only just hung on.
The five week break left few signs of rust on the Sydney attack but Shanghai also showed signs of potent with counter-attacks that left the Sky Blues chasing shadows. Feng Renliang almost made Sydney pay or missed chances when he struck the post in the 38th minute and just moments later had a superb chance well saved by Reddy.
Though the visitors still sat deep and had the Sky Blues attack run rings around them with cheeky back heel-s and lay-offs. The inside runs from Bridge and Williams caused havoc as they latched onto balls held up by Cazarine and Bridge nearly took the lead with a well-struck shot only just stopped.
But despite their dominance with 60% of possession, Sydney couldn-t convert the chances and it was all square at the break.
The Columbian striker Riascos nearly snatched a brace but struck his volley straight at Reddy after the ball fell to him after Renliang got the better of Ryall.
But Cazarine followed this up with an opportunity of his own when he controlled a cross with his chest to release himself on goal, but he couldn-t get his attempt on target.
The visitors managed to claw their way back into the encounter with a high line and more movement off the ball. Rather than allow Sydney to press on with a deep line and slow transition, Shanghai tried to take the game to Sydney.
But the home-side still had control of the game and had chances to snatch the lead through Moriyasu and Stephan Keller but both opportunities- fell right to Xin Feng.
The momentum of the match was continuously halted as the Shanghai players went down injured, but this only fired up the already agitated home crowd as they watched chance after chance pass by without significance.
Match Detail:
Sydney FC: 1 (CARLE 12′)
Shanghai Shenhua FC: 1 (RIASCOS 6′)
Sydney FC line-up: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL (12. Shannon COLE 64′), 3. Stephan KELLER, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK (c), 9. Bruno CAZARINE (24. Dimitrios PETRATOS 74′), 10. Nick CARLE, 14. David WILLIAMS (23. Rhyan GRANT 90′), 17. Matthew JURMAN, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 21. Scott JAMIESON.
Substitutes Not Used: 5. Andrew DURANTE, 7. Brendan GAN, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 26. Joel CHIANESE.
Yellow Cards: 19. Mark BRIDGE 86′, 24. Dimitrios PETRATOS 90+5′.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 10. Nick CARLE 12′.
Shanghai Shenhua FC line-up: 22. QIU Shengjiong (gk), 3. XIN Feng, 5. DAI Lin (c), 7. FENG Renliang, 8. RIASCOS Barahona Duvier Orlando (31. Abulkader DEKA 89′), 9. SALMERON Luis Angel, 10. JIANG Kun (36. ZHENG Wei 70′), 11. SONG Boxuan (16. WEN Huyi 19′), 20. WU Xi, 21. Perez CASTRO, 28. CAO Yunding.
Substitutes Not Used: 1. DONG Lei (gk), 2. XIONG Fei, 17. FAN Lingjiang, 29. QIU Tianyi.
Yellow Cards: 8. RIASCOS Barahona Duvier Orlando 21′, 9. SALMERON Luis Angel 45+1′, 36. ZHENG Wei 79′, 20. WU Xi 83′.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 8. RIASCOS Barahona Duvier Orlando 6′.
Referee: Abdullah BALOUSHI (Qatar).
Crowd: 7 007 at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney.
