Sydney FC Held By Resilient Manly United

^{Header photo by Alen Delic}

Sydney FC 1 (Flottmann 70’) drew with Manly United 1 (Cholakian 80’)

Sydney FC have been held to a 1-1 draw by a well drilled Manly United side after a late breakaway goal cancelled out the Sky Blues opener.

Moments That Mattered:

1. LE FONDRE CHANCE – 2’ – An early sight for Le Fondre as he cuts inside to drill a low left foot shot at Mitchell who is down low to save.
2. MCGOWAN BLOCK – 8’ – The centre half is in quickly to deny Cholakian from close range after Manly broke free following a loose ball.
3. LE FONDRE CHANCE – 10’ – Zullo races onto a ball in the box but is dispossessed before the loose ball lands for Le Fondre.  His curling shot is saved.
4. PARKHOUSE CHANCE – 42′ – Parkhouse cuts inside from the left to fashion an opening but his curling effort is high and wide of the far post.
5. RETRE SHOT WIDE – 45’ – A Sky Blues corner is cleared to Retre on the edge of Manly’s box, and his effort flies just over the bar.
6. O’NEILL SHOT JUST WIDE – 53’ – Zullo fires in a ball from the left which Le Fondre tees up to O’Neill.  The midfielder whips a shot just past the post from the edge of the box.
7. LE FONDRE SHOT SAVED – 58’ – Brattan plays Grant in behind the full back who manages to nudge the ball back to Le Fondre, but his first-time effort is pushed behind for a corner.
8. MITCHELL DOUBLE SAVE – 59’ – From the resulting corner O’Neill finds Ninkovic on the edge of the box. His fierce curling shot is parried into the path of Le Fondre by Mitchell but the striker’s shot from a tight angle is once again saved by the keeper.
9. GREAT SAVE HEWARD-BELLE – 63’ – Manly win a free kick on the edge of the box and Parkhouse fires a low shot towards Heward-Belle’s bottom right corner. However the young keeper is down quickly to push away.
10. FLOTTMANN GOAL – 70’ – O’Neill’s corner from the left is perfectly judged for the head of Flottmann who makes no mistake from six yards.
11. BARBAROUSES HEADS OVER – 72’ – A drilled corner form the Sydney FC right finds Barbarouses on the near post but he flicks the header over.
12. CHOLAKIAN GOAL – 80’ – Manly win the ball in the centre of the pitch and obtain a breakaway. Cholakian gives the ball to Parkhouse who returns it and the striker drives a powerful shot home.

Sydney FC have been held to a 1-1 draw with Manly United, who gave the Sky Blues a great test heading into their FFA Cup Round of 16 match next week.

Steve Corica’s men created a number of good chances but had former Sydney FC Youth keeper Dylan Mitchell standing in their way behind a tight-knit Manly defensive block.

A first senior goal for Sydney FC from newly re-signed defender Patrick Flottmann finally broke the resilient Manly defence, however a late breakaway from the visitors levelled the tie with the Sky Blues pushing for a second goal

What they said:

Steve Corica: “I was pleased with the amount of chances we created tonight considering how well Manly United played and how compact they were.

“They were tough to break down and that’s what we’ll need to be prepared for this season, so it was an excellent test for us in those conditions.

“There’s a lot to take from the game, including more minutes for some key players as well as a good goal from the set piece by Patrick.”

Patrick Flottmann: “It’s obviously good to get off the mark and it was a good hit out for the boys. Manly are a good side and they showed that tonight.

“There’s still a lot of work to put in from myself and the rest of the squad.  It’s important to be getting minutes and we’ve still got a few more months to be fully fit.”

Sydney FC: 20. Thomas HEWARD-BELLE (GK), 4. Alex WILKINSON, 6. Ryan McGOWAN (2. Patrick FLOTTMANN 45’), 7. Michael ZULLO, 8. Paulo RETRE, 9. Adam Le FONDRE (18. Luke IVANOVIC 60’), 10. Milos NINKOVIC (24. Marco TILIO 77’), 11. Kosta BARBAROUSES (28. Harrison SAWYER 88’), 13. Brandon O’NEILL, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26. Luke BRATTAN (17. Anthony CACERES, 60’).

Subs Not Used: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 3. Harry VAN DER SAAG, 16. Joel KING, 25. Calem NIEUWENHOF.

Yellow Cards: None.

Red Cards: None.

Manly United: 1. Dylan MITCHELL (GK) (32. Mackenzie SYRON (GK) 77’), 4. Travis OUGHTRED, 5. Sam GALLAGHER ©, 6. Joseph FOX (21. Finn ASHTON 77’), 8. Dominic FERGUSON (3. James GEORGAKLIS 77’), 9. Harry MCCARTHY (31. Max ROGERS 66’), 10. Brendan CHOLAKIAN, 11. Adam PARKHOUSE, 13. Scott BALDERSON (16. Mitchell ROOKE 77’), 17. Lewis MICCIO (12. Charles MENDY 45’), 30. Lucas RAINBIRD.

Subs not used: 36. Lachlan MCGRATH.

Yellow Cards: None.

Red Cards: None.

Ground: Leichhardt Oval

Referee: Katie Patterson