Sydney FC have ran out 1-0 winners under the lights at Allianz Stadium as an Anthony Caceres effort was enough to take home the three points, the Beyond Blue Cup and win Sydney FC their second Big Blue in a row.
Sydney FC 1 (Caceres 35’) def Melbourne Victory 0
Moments That Mattered:
MAK GOAL DISALLOWED – 24’ – Good build up play from Lolley and Caceres and Mak with his back to goal turns and shoots but the goal is disallowed by a marginal offside in the lead up.
CACERES SMASHES SYDNEY IN FRONT – 35’ – Anthony Caceres drives into the box from the right flank and plays the ball through the navy blue defence and into the path of Max Burgess, who returns the favour with a perfect reverse pass, and Caceres leaves no room for error as he rifles the ball into the roof of the net at the near post.
BURGESS SHOWN RED- 84’- After a tackle on the sideline, the referee deems Max Burgess to have lashed out at Bruce Kamau, and the Sydney FC midfielder is shown red, Sydney FC are down to 10 for the last 5 minutes.
What They Said: Steve Corica “I think we’ve played better and got no reward before so it’s pleasing to get 3 points at home and a clean sheet.
“We could have had another goal, with Robbie Mak, it was a lovely finish, unfortunate that Joe (Lolley) was just offside.
“Anthony Caceres has been amazing, he works so hard for the team, and it’s nice he was able to score a goal tonight.”
Match Report: Sydney FC came into this Big Blue looking to bounce back after last week’s narrow loss to league leaders Melbourne City and started the game energetically and positively. Both teams needed the three points, and it showed from the off, with the game being end to end for the first 25 minutes.
Sydney FC fans thought they’d found the breakthrough when Joe Lolley was put through and his low cross was brilliantly controlled, spun, and finished by Robert Mak. However the Sky Blue joy was short lived as the goal was chalked out for an offside in the build-up.
Sydney FC fans would not have to wait long as Anthony Caceres burst through navy shirts and into the box, played a beautiful one-two with Max Burgess, and fired a piledriver past the outstretched left hand of Paul Izzo, and into the roof of the net.
Caceres’ effort would be the only goal of the first half, making the thought of Robert Mak’s disallowed goal redundant in the minds of Sky-Blue fans as they headed into the break a goal to the good.
The Sky Blues would start the second half as they ended the first, and did not take their feet off the pedals, spending the start of the second period largely in Victory’s half. Victory would carve out a few half chances, with a header forcing a fine save from Sky Blue stopper Andrew Redmayne, but the home side looked in control and kept the Victory attacks at bay. Sydney FC carved out some chances of their own, when Robert Mak and Joe Lolley were threaded through but couldn’t capitalise on these opportunities.
The game started to heat up in the closing stages as Max Burgess was shown a red card after the fourth official decided that he had kicked out at Bruce Kamau after a tackle. This sparked both teams back to life and they would end the game in a tense battle that would go right to the wire.
Despite the man disadvantage, the Sky Blues would run out 1-0 winners at Allianz Stadium, an important three points paired with a valiant performance, saw Sydney FC take home the three points, and keep them in the top six.
Sydney FC: 1. ANDREW REDMAYNE (GK), 2. JAMES DONACHIE, 4. ALEX WILKINSON (C), 8. PAULO RETRE (6. JACK RODWELL 69’), 10. JOE LOLLEY (3. JOEL KING 78’), 11 ROBERT MAK, 17. ANTHONY CACERES, 18. DIEGO CABALLO, 22. MAX BURGESS, 23. RHYAN GRANT, 26. LUKE BRATTAN
Unused Subs: 30. ADAM PAVLESIC (GK), 12. PATRICK WOOD, 25. JAIDEN KUCHARSKI, 29. AARON GURD.
Yellow Cards: Grant 40’, Donachie 45’.
Red Cards: Burgess 84’.
Melbourne Victory: 2. JASON GERIA (28. WILL WILSON- 81’), 3. ENRIQUE LOPEZ, 5. DAMIEN DA SILVA, 7. CHRIS IKONOMIDIS (29.ELI ADAMs- 86’), 8. JOSH BRILLANTE (4.RAI MARCHAN- 81’), 10. BRUNO FORNAROLI, 11.BEN FOLAMI (18. BRUCE KAMAU- 81’), 14. CONNOR CHAMPMAN, 20. PAUL IZZO (GK), 21. RODERICK MIRANDA, 24. NISHAN VELUPILLAY (19. FERNANDO ROMERO- 58’)
Unused Subs: 1. MATT ACTON, 6. LEIGH BROXHAM,
Yellow Cards: Brillante 62’, De Silva- 90+3’.
Red Cards: None
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Alex King
Attendance: 15,167
