Sydney FC have moved five points clear in the race to win the Liberty A-League Premiers Plate after a late equalizer denied them all three points in a 2-2 draw away to Melbourne Victory.
The Sky Blues also remain on top of the Club Championship.
Sydney FC 2 (Ibini 50’, Siemsen 60’) drew w. Melbourne Victory 2 (Privitelli 68’, Zimmerman 90’+3’)
Moments That Mattered:
LOWE CHANCE – 11’ – Hawkesby clips the ball into Lowe who controls and puts her left foot shot just wide.
TOBIN CHANCE – 33’ – A short ground level ball into the box finds Tobin who turns and shoots into the side-netting.
SIEMSEN CHANCE – 36’ – A superb reverse from Lowe pass puts Siemsen through but her shot with the outside of her boot is well saved by Dumont.
IBINI GOAL – 50’ – Lowe plays a superb ball over the top to the left hand side for Ibini who drives at the defence and squeezes the ball home to the far post.
SIEMSEN GOAL – 60’ – An unbelievable cross from Rule finds Siemsen who bullets a brilliant header home.
WITHERS SHOOTS JUST WIDE – 68’ – A cross from the right finds Withers who pokes it just wide of the post.
PRIVITELLI GOAL – 69’ – A left wing cross is intercepted by Tobin but Privitelli gets to the rebound first and forces it over the line.
WHYMAN SAVE – 72’ – Chidiac fires one from range which Whyman tips over well.
LOWE CHANCE – 74’ – Hawkesby feeds Lowe who shoots from close range but Dumont makes a good save with her leg.
SIEMSEN SHOT SAVED – 82’ – Vine gets to the byline and passes to Lowe who finds Siemsen to hit first time and Dumount produces a great save from point blank.
ZIMMERMAN GOAL – 90’+3’ – A left wing corner falls to Zimmerman who produces a fine volley to find the corner.
Match Report
Sydney FC have played out a two-all draw with Melbourne Victory after leading 2-0 and conceding an injury time equaliser.
After a goalless first half Ibini opened the scoring five minutes into the second with another fabulous solo effort.
The goal opened up the game and soon Sydney FC were 2-0 to the good with Rule sending over a fantastic cross which Siemsen headed home.
That burst Melbourne into life and they were soon back in it with Privitelli forcing the ball home after Tobin had cut out a left wing cross.
Sydney FC had good chances through Vine, Lowe and Siemsen to kill the game off while Whyman produced some fine moments between the sticks to keep the Sky Blues in the ascendency.
However a frantic scramble from a corner in the final moments fell to Zimmerman who volleyed the ball home to give both teams a share of the spoils.
What They Said: Charlie Rule: “I think we played really well in the first half and in the second half I think we needed to manage the game a bit more, but we will learn from it and get ready for the next game.
“I was happy to get forward as much as I can and to get that assist [for Remy Siemsen] was really good to make sure we could get up.”
Sydney FC: 1. Jada WHYMAN, 3. Charlotte MCLEAN, 5. Ally GREEN, 8. Rachel LOWE, 10 Remy SIEMSEN, 11. Cortnee VINE, 12. Natalie TOBIN, 15. Mackenzie HAWKESBY, 18. Taylor RAY, 19. Charlie RULE, 20. Princess IBINI (6. Sarah HUNTER 80’).
Unused Subs: 40. Tahlia FRANCO (GK), 2. Mary STANIC-FLOODY, 4. Jessika NASH, 17. Angelique HRISTODOULOU.
Yellow Cards: Whyman 71’, McLean 89’.
Red Cards: None.
Melbourne Victory FC: 1. Casey DUMONT (GK), 5. Courtney NEVIN, 7. Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 8. Alana MURPHY (19. Lia PRIVITELLI 46’), 9. Catherine ZIMMERMAN, 10. Alex CHIDIAC, 13. Poly DORAN, 15. Amy JACKSON (2. Tiffany ELIADIS 57’), 17. Maja MARKOVSKI (11. Harriet WITHERS 67’), 25. Brooke HENDRIX, 30. Melindaj BARBIERI (16. Paige ZOIS 84’).
Subs: 20. Melissa MAIZELS.
Yellow Cards: Markovski 10’, Cooney-Cross 22’, Nevin 44’, Hendrix 73’.
Red Cards: None.
Venue: City Vista Recreation Reserve
Referee: Rachel Mitchensen.
