Sydney FC held Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw but ultimately went down in a dramatic penalty shootout after Sekine had cancelled out Tel’s first half opener.
Sydney FC 1 (Sekine 55′) drew w. Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Tel 29′) – Spurs won 4-2 on penalties.
Moments That Mattered
5′ | HOEFSLOOT SAVE – A high, strong press from Tottenham leads the ball to fall to the feet of Richarlison in front of the Sydney FC goal, but Hoefsloot dives to his right to deny Tottenham an early opening goal.
13′ | SOLOMON DRIVES ON THE RIGHT – A quick burst on the right from Solomon ends with the ball cut back to Gallagher for a shot from the edge of the box which is controlled by Courtney-Perkins to keep the scoreboard level.
24′ | YOULLEY SHOT – A lost ball starts a Sydney FC counterattack, led by Youlley who drives forward before striking the ball to his left, just within the reach of Dubravka who gets a hand to the shot.
29′ | TEL GOAL – A promising Tottenham run causes Sekine to give away a foul outside of the 18 yard box. The free kick is well struck by Mathys Tel with his right foot outside of the reach of Hoefsloot to open the scoring for Tottenham.
40′ – MACALLISTER FROM HALFWAY – Macallister receives the ball on the halfway line and decides to shoot after seeing Dubravka off his line. The shot looks good before travelling just too far to the right and going out for a goal kick.
55′ – SEKINE GOAL – A drive forward from Quintal is played to the feet of Macallister but deflects off the foot of Ben Davies and lands on the running path of Sekine who stays calm under pressure to slot it to away and level the scoring.
70′ | TOTTENHAM ACROSS GOAL – Melia makes an outwards run to the left before laying the ball off to Williams-Barnett who crosses it across the face of goal hoping to find the feet of Min-Hyeok, however Min-Hyeok is unable to make the contact needed and the threat is lost.
88′ | TOTTENHAM CHANCE – A forward drive from Williams-Barnett looks to spark a counterattack for Tottenham Hotspur after a dispossession. Williams-Barnett drives the ball towards the box with options left and right before taking a shot himself which deflects off the body of Courtney-Perkins and safe.
Match Report
Sydney FC has held English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur two a 1-1 draw before falling to penalties in the Sydney Super Cup at Allianz Stadium.
Sydney FC named an one change to the line-up which defeated Bayswater City in the Australia Cup last week and featured new signing Takahiro Sekine on the left wing in place of Akol Akon who missed out with a slight calf injury. Gus Hoefsloot continued in goal as did rising star Mathias Macallister up front.
The opening of the game saw Tottenham putting pressure on Sydney FC early but secure defensive work of Popovic and Courtney Perkins made it hard for the English giants to break through.
The 5th minute of the game put Hoefsloot to the test as Tottenham pressed high leading to Richarlison receiving the ball inside the box for a one on one against the Sydney FC keeper.
However Hoefsloot makes a strong save to deny Tottenham the early opening goal they were hoping for.
Spurs find the goal they were searching for in the 29th minute after receiving a free kick outside the box which is taken by Mathys Tel and well struck to the right of Hoefsloot, just outside of the Sydney FC goalkeepers reach.
Sydney FC had their fair share of chances in the first half, such as Macallister’s shot in the 40th minute from halfway after spotting Dubravka off his line, which travelled from the Sky Blues half, only missing the goal by a hair.
The second half saw Quintal leading an attack with Macallister on his right and Sekine on his left. The young attacking mid plays the ball to Macallister however it takes a deflection off Davies and lands at the feet of Sekine who is one on one with the keeper and finishes with his left foot to equalise for Sydney FC.
The rest of the second half saw both teams searching for the winner with Tottenham Hotspur having a major chance in the 70th minute when the ball is played across goal to the feet of Min-Hyeok, however the striker is unable to find the right contact on the ball to secure the game.
One last Tottenham chance in the 88th minute occurs in the form of a Williams-Barnett shot from outside the box, however Courtney-Perkins is there to deny the chance, sending the game to penalties.
Sydney FC line up for penalties and despite a heroic save from Gus Hoefsloot, diving right to block the shot of Donley, the Sky Blues fall to the Premier League team 4-2.
PENALTIES
TOTTENHAM
Luca Williams-Bennitt ✅
Sandro Tonali ✅
Andy Robertson ✅
Jamie Donley ❌
Dane Scarlett ✅
SYDNEY FC
Gabriel Popovic ✅
Al Hassan Toure ✅
Joe Lacey ❌
Alexander Popovic ❌
WHAT THEY SAID
Patrick KISNORBO: “We held our own and played some great stuff. We built ourselves into the game, we tried to control a bit more and have some personality to take the ball under pressure in the second half.”
“We work tomorrow to get better … but everyone played their part and did well”
SYDNEY FC: 1. Gus HOEFSLOT (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 8. Wataru KAMIJO (38. Samuel LANCASTER (74′)), 14. Takahiro SEKINE (29. Joe LACEY (64′)), 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL (33. Marin FRANCE (74′)), 21. Zac DE JESUS (35. Al Hassan TOURE (64′)), 22. Mathias MACALLISTER (16. Gabriel POPOVIC (64′)), 23. Rhyan GRANT (Captain) (26. Nickolas ALFARO (78′)), 36. Rhys YOULLEY (28. Ethan DYER (78′)), 41. Alexander POPOVIC.
Unused Substitutions | 3. Aaron GURD, 19. Mitchell GLASSON, 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (GK), 34. Tyler WILLIAMS, 55. Miles MILLINER.
Yellow Cards | 17. Ben GARUCCIO (37′).
Red Cards | N/A
Manager | Patrick KISNORBO
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR: 8. Conor GALLAGHER (43. Jamie DONLEY (64′)), 9. RICHARLISON (59. Yang MIN-HYEOK (64′)), 11 Mathys TEL (68. Luca WILLIAMS-BARNETT (46′)), 14. Archie GRAY (55. Mason MELIA (64′)), 15. Lucas BERGVALL (16. Sandro TONALI (46′)), 27. Manor SOLOMON (44. Dane SCARLETT (46′)), 33. Ben DAVIES (25. Kota TAKAI (46′)), 39. Martin DUBRAVKA (GK), 57. Rio KYEREMATEN (78. Harry BRYNE (78′)), 66. Malachi HARDY (88. Tyler TINGEY (78′)), 89. Tye HALL (3. Andy ROBERTSON (64′)).
Unused Substitutions | 31. Antonin KINSKY (GK), 49. Tyrese HALL, 53. Reiss RUSSELL-DENNY, 63. Damola AJAYI.
Yellow Cards | N/A
Red Cards | N/A
Manager | Roberto DI ZEBRI
Referee | Adam KERSEY
Venue | Allianz Stadium
