Sky Blues have earned a valuable 2-2 draw at Allianz Stadium against top of the table leaders Auckland FC thanks to a first half brace from Adrian Segecic’s long-range marksmanship.
The Sky Blues couldn’t hold on however but remain in the top six for now.
Sydney FC 2 (Segecic 12’, 32’) drw. Auckland FC 2 (Rogerson 35’, 68’ De Vries)
Moments That Mattered:
12’ | SEGECIC LONG-RANGE GOAL – De Jesus played a threaded ball through the Auckland defensive line towards Segecic who took it on his left stride just outside the penalty area, rocketing a long-range strike past Paulsen into the top left corner to give Sydney FC the 1-0 lead.
32’ | SEGECIC GOAL – Segecic finds the ball just outside the eighteen-yard box, quickly turning away from the defender and pulling the trigger from thirty yards out, Paulsen stunned giving the Sky Blues another leg up, 2-0.
35’ | ROGERSON GOAL – Verstraete sends a whipped in ball towards Francois, who touches it away from the Sydney defender to get a shot off, Devenish-Meares gets down low to deny him, however a follow up shot from Rogerson rattles into the back of the net for a 2-1 scoreline.
60’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – Counterattack in transition creates an overlapping run from Gallegos who stroked at goal, Devenish-Meares made the last-minute save.
68’ | DE VRIES GOAL – Sakai makes the run towards the byline, whipping a dangerous ball into the penalty area. Devenish-Meares gets a hand to it, palming the ball away directly to De Vries who gets the half-volley attempt off to make it level.
81’ | COURNTNEY-PERKINS CLEARANCE – Moreno squares the ball to Brimmer who is set up for an open goal, Devenish-Meares doesn’t get enough on it to get it out of danger, Courtney-Perkins gets in behind to clear it off the line.
83’ | MORENO CHANCE – A defensive mistake from the Sky Blues keeper which Moreno pounces on, lobbing it up and above the backline, hitting the post for keep the scores level.
Match Report: Sydney FC secured a 2-2 draw on home soil against top of the table Auckland FC thanks to a brace from Adrian Segecic who put the side 2-0 up in the first half.
Auckland FC were able to bite back to level the match and keep Sydney FC 6th on the Isuzu-UTE A-League table with a Finals place still on the cards.
The opening ten minutes saw end to end play from both sides, a moment of magic came in the 12th minute of action when a threaded ball through the Auckland defensive line via De Jesus made its way to Segecic who cannoned a long-range strike into the top left corner, giving the Sky Blues the 1-0 advantage.
The Sky Blues continued the constant attacking pressure leading into the 20th minute, with chances at goal from both Ouahim and Courtney-Perkins testing Paulsen who did well to intervene.
A pass from Sena in the 32nd minutes to Segecic who created his own chance out of nothing, he turned away from the oncoming Auckland defender and wasted no time in rocketing a 30-yard shot beyond the path of Paulsen to get his brace and give Sydney FC the 2-0 lead.
The away side bit back moments later, a neat pass from Verstraete towards Francois who did well to control it, confusing the oncoming defender and striking a fierce ball at goal. Devenish-Meares did well to get down low but the follow up attempt from Rogerson rattled into the top of the net and Talay’s side led 2-1 at half time.
Both teams came out of half-time energised with constant attacking pressure from both ends, keeping each other’s goalkeepers on their toes.
Auckland FC levelled in the final half hour of play, when a run towards the by-line from Sakai proved crucial, getting a cross off into the penalty area.
Devenish-Meares got a glove to it palming it away, but the ball landed neatly for De Vries who fired a half volley strike past Devenish-Meares after a taking deflection, leveling the contest at 2-2.
With ten minutes left, defensive errors in Sydney FC’s enabled multiple chances for Auckland FC, yet Devenish-Meares and Courtney-Perkins did well to maintain the draw with crucial last ditch saves.
The Sky Blues remain 6th on the Isuzu-UTE A-League table and a place in the finals still up for grabs.
Post-Match Coach’s Interview: Ufuk Talay (Sydney FC Head Coach)
What they said: Ufuk Talay: “We allowed them to come back into the game, I’m disappointed that we dropped two points at home.
“I thought great effort from our boys in a short turn around, we tried to freshen up the squad a bit with the game we had on Wednesday.
“For us every game is like a final, so the most important thing for us with our backs against the wall is to produce but at the same time we are trying to get into finals football and it’s a balance with our game coming up on Wednesday night so we can go and perform”
“Everything is still in our control for the rest of the matches in the A-League but obviously will shift our focus onto the AFC.”
Sydney FC (Home) | Formation: 4-4-2: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 41. Alexander POPOVIC, 23. Rhyan GRANT (C), 16. Joel KING, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 21. Zachary De JESUS, 15. Leonardo SENA, 17. Anthony CACERES, 8. Anas OUAHIM (6. Corey HOLLMAN 63’), 7. Adrian SEGECIC (20. Tiago QUINTAL 90+2’), 10. Joesph LOLLEY (25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI 83’)
Head Coach: Ufuk TALAY
Unused Substitutions: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 31. Jaushua SOTIRO, 42. Kyle Reilly SHAW, 11. Douglas COSTA
Yellow Cards: 4.Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS 43’, 15 Leonardo SENA 85’, 17. Anthony CACERES 90’
Red Cards: None
Auckland FC (Away) | Formation: 4-4-2: 12. Alexander PAULSEN (GK), 4. Nando PIJNAKER, 23. Daniel HALL, 15. Francis De VRIES (21. Jesse RANDALL 90’), 2. Hiroki SAKAI (C), 28. Luis Felipe GALLEGOS (5. Tommy SMITH 86’), 6. Louis VERSTRAETE, 11. Marlee FRANCOIS (25. Neyder MORENO 61’), 27. Logan ROGERSON (17. Callan ELLIOT 46’), 10. Guillermo MAY, 7. Cameron HOWIESON (22. Jake BRIMMER 46’)
Head Coach: Steve CORICA
Unused Substitutions: 1. Micheal WOUD (GK), 14. Liam GILLION
Yellow Cards: 2.Hiroki SAKAI (C) 52’, 22. Jake BRIMMER 76’, 28. Luis Felipe GALLEGOS 85’
Red Cards: None
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia
Referee: Alex King
Attendance: 18,437
