Sydney FC went down to a solitary first half Harry Kane goal in front of more than 71,000 fans at ANZ Stadium in the first of two glamour ties against English Premier League opposition.
Summary
Sydney FC 0 def by Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane 43’)
Sydney FC went down to a solitary first half Harry Kane goal in front of more than 71,000 fans at ANZ Stadium in the first of two glamour ties against English Premier League opposition.
The Sky Blues had their own chances in the game with Alex Brosque having a shot cleared off the line by Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen while Christopher Naumoff and George Blackwood also had good chances.
Graham Arnold’s men will host Chelsea on Tuesday night with the English Premier League Champions arriving tomorrow (Sunday) morning.
What they said
“I think we played very well and it’s a privilege to watch Tottenham, the way they move the ball around and the pace with which they break but overall it was a very good performance from a lot of young boys in our team.
“We had chances but they had chances as well but the good thing about tonight is that 70,000 people got a good spectacle and the game was played in very good spirit. The game of football was very well represented.”
Goals
43′ KANE GOAL – Kane fires in low from the edge of the area after Townsend put him through.
Key Moments
4′ NAUMOFF CHANCE – Early scare for the Sky Blues as Lamela heads over the bar from close range.
10′ NECEVSKI SAVES – Necevski does brilliantly to tip away Townsend’s square ball before holding Kane’s follow up shot.
12′ NAUMOFF CLOSE – Naumoff breaks the offside trap, jinks into the box and fires low but Lloris saves.
21’ LAMELA CLOSE – Lamela goes close with an audacious rabona attempt from outside the box. It sails over the bar.
32’ BROSQUE CHANCE – A bad back pass from Spurs puts Brosque free on goal. He rounds the keeper Lloris but Vertonghen is on the line to keep the scores level at 0-0.
50′ PENALTY APPEAL – Shouts for a penalty as Blackwood charges into the box and goes down. Nothing given though, play on.
70′ RYALL CLEARS OFF THE LINE – Kane twists & turns in the box to shoot but Ryall is there to hook the ball off the line.
90′ BLACKWOOD HEADER – Blackwood heads it inches wide of the post after leaping highest in the box.
Team News
Sydney FC 0 def by Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane 43’)
Graham Arnold made five changes to the side that started the Hyundai A-League Grand Final with Smeltz, Grant, Gersbach and Antonis all coming to the line-up, along with Ivan Necevski who would be playing his last game for the club. New signings Andrew Hoole and Brandon O’Neill were included on the bench along with the rest of the squad.
Ground: ANZ Stadium
Referee: Minhu Lee
Attendance: 71,549
Sydney FC: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI (30. Anthony BOUZANIS 88′), 2. Seb RYALL, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC (5. Matt JURMAN 65’), 9. Shane SMELTZ (29. George BLACKWOOD 45’), 11. Bernie IBINI (38. Brandon O’NEILL 80’), 13. Christopher NAUMOFF (34. Robert STAMBOLZIEV 45’), 14. Alex BROSQUE (35. Andrew HOOLE 45’), 16. Alex GERSBACH, 17. Terry ANTONIS (12. Hagi GLIGOR 65’), 23. Rhyan GRANT (25. Aaron CALVER), 27. Mickael TAVARES (18. Peter TRIANTIS).
Subs: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC
Yellow cards: None.
Red cards: None.
Tottenham Hotspur: 1. Hugo LLORIS, 5. Jan VERTONGHEN, 11. Erik LAMELA, 12. DeAndre YEDLIN, 17. Andros TOWNSEND, 18. Harry KANE, 19. Mousa DEMBELE, 23. Christian ERIKSEN, 25. Ben STAMBOULI, 38. Ryan MASON, 42. Nabil BENTALEB.
Subs Not Used: 13. Michel VORM, 15. Eric DIER, 22. Nacer CHADLI, 28. Tom CARROLL, 43. Grant WARD, 44. Harry WINKS, 45. Kyle WALKER-PETERS, 47. Josh ONOMAH, 48. Luke MCGEE.
Yellow cards: None.
Red cards: None.
