Two fabulous goals by attacking maestro Nicky Carle and poacher Bruno Cazarine sealed an important 2-0 away win for Sydney FC at nib Stadium against Perth Glory on Saturday night.
Two fabulous goals by attacking maestro Nicky Carle and poacher Bruno Cazarine sealed an important 2-0 away win for Sydney FC at nib Stadium against Perth Glory on Saturday night.
The Sky Blues, without Alex Brosque for the seventh time in a row, as well as fellow striker Mark Bridge and young gun Terry Antonis, clocked up their fifth straight match unbeaten to keep their finals hopes alive.
Sydney showed no signs of worry as attacking trio Dimitri Petratos, Cazarine and Carle dictated play and left the Perth defence mesmerized with all three showing their skills in the assisting and scoring of the two goals.
Cazarine featured in both goals, playing his role in a goal consisting of four first touch passes with Carle, before the 29-year-old finished with a rare headed effort. Petratos then helped double Sydney-s lead when he set up Cazarine with a wonderful flick pass.
It could be a sign of things to come for last season-s Champions as 18-year-old Petratos has proven his value over the past month and put in another admirable 90 minute shift. With Antonis starting to make a name at the club and Finnish import Juho Makela finding his feet, Sydney are building nicely towards their tilt at Asian Champions League success.
Sydney FC-s next match is against the Newcastle Jets at EnergyAustralia Stadium on Sunday 6 February (5pm kick-off) – a must win to in the pursuit of the sixth and final finals spot.
Carle had the first opportunity of the match, with his blazing shot from outside the box tipped over by Tando Velaphi , followed by a couple of un-eventful corners.
It was then through the marquee attacking midfielder that Sydney opened the scoring, after he partook in a remarkable double link-up with Cazarine in the 9th minute. Carle, in a colossal amount of space, played a ball to a marked Cazarine who held off his defender to complete the one-two.
But with the creativity and daringness that has reaped him praise, Carle, on the run, played another first-time ball back to the Brazilian striker, who completed the set of weaving passes with a ball behind the defence and into the path of a storming Carle, where a diving header ended in the ex-Socceroos-s first goal of the season.
Perth tried to create their own exhibition of passing around the midfield as they defiantly fought their way back in the match. An awkward Adriano Pellegrino first-time shot from 15 yards out was the home teams- best chance of the first half, as the wide-midfielder found himself in a lot of space, but he struck his shot wide.
The fast paced start didn-t show signs of slowing as Sydney youngster Petratos was put through on goal, with only a perfectly-timed tackle from Josh Mitchell denying the Sydney striker his fourth goal in three games.
But with both teams beginning to squander possession with a host of lazy passes,possibly due to the searing playing conditions, the pace of the match began to fall and both sides found it difficult to continue playing the open football of the first half an hour in the humid conditions.
In the 53rd minute, Sydney doubled their lead with yet another technically skilled goal. An aerial ball from Sung Hwan Byun made its way over the Perth defence, with both Cazarine and Petratos looking to retrieve possession.
With the ball nearing the by-line and a Perth defender getting across, Cazarine cut back inside, and a spectacular flick from the out-side of Petratos-s gifted right foot found Cazarine six yards out, where the clinical finisher supplied yet another poacher-s goal for Sydney.
The Glory had their best chance to draw one back in the 67th minute, with Sterjovski stalking his way behind Stephan Keller – playing his 50th match for the Sky Blues – but hit his shot from six yards out just wide of the far post.
With the coming of the last quarter of the match, both coaches made tactical changes. Perth switched to three at the back in an attempt to crowd the midfield and pass their way through Sydney, overloading holding midfielder Stuart Musialik.
In response, Vitezslav Lavicka changed to a 4-5-1, with Petratos moving to the right and asked to run at the compact Perth defence. The idea was to stretch the three center-backs, opening up space in the middle for Cazarine and Carle in the middle, as well as Shannon Cole making inside runs from the left.
Terry McFlynn joined Musialik in a defensive midfield role to help release the pressure, and the duo tightly marked and pressed Jacob Burns and Steven McGarry in the center.
Though it was McFlynn, in his more defensive-minded role, who had The Shed up in arms with their desperate cries for a penalty falling on death ears. The Sky Blues skipper superb slide-tackle intercepted a promising Perth attack, but Perth fans were adamant McFlynn took the man and not the ball.
Perth slowly threatened to create opportunities in the last 10 minutes but failed to do so, finding their attacks consistently halted by a patient Sky Blues team. Crosses, long balls, one-twos, blistering runs – nothing could beat the diligent Sydney defence.
The third goal of the match did indeed almost arise – but for Sydney. Hitting a defence-less Perth on the break, Makela put Petratos straight in on goal, but the youngster failed to get a shot away as the covering defence pushed him wide.
It proved to be the last play of the game and is not going to down the buoyant mood of the travelling Sky Blues as they put in their fifth straight match unbeaten, taking 11 points from a possible 15 in 2011.
Perth Glory: 0
Sydney FC: 2 (Nicky CARLE 9-, Bruno CAZARINE 54-)
Sydney FC line-up: 3. Stephan KELLER, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU (12. Shannon COLE 68-), 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. Bruno CAZARINE (18. Juho MAKELA 79-), 10. Nick CARLE (2. Sebastian RYALL 78-), 15. Terry McFLYNN (c) 17. Matthew JURMAN, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN, 24. Dimitri PETRATOS.
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Dylan Mitchell (gk).
Yellow Cards: Nil.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 10. Nicky CARLE 9-, 9. Bruno CAZARINE 54-
Perth Glory line-up: 1. Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2. Josh MITCHELL, 7. Jacob BURNS (c), 9. Robbie FOWLER (26. Adam TAGGART 76-), 12. Scott NEVILLE, 14. Steve MCGARRY (15. Howard FONDYKE 68-), 16 Adrian PELLEGRINO, 17. Todd HOWARTH, 19. Naum SEKULOVSKI, 21. Mile STERJOVSKI, 24. Joshua RISDON (13. Tommy AMPHLETT 58-).
Substitutes Not Used: 25. Ryan PEARSON (gk),
Yellow Cards: Nil.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: Nil.
Referee: Gerard PARSONS.
Crowd: 5 536 at nib Stadium, Perth.
