Sydney FC have gone down to a single late goal from Japanese Champions Yokohama F. Marinos in a close game which the Sky Blues will rue missing the best of the opportunities.
Sydney FC 0 def. by Yokohama F. Marinos 1 (Tsunoda 81’)
Moments That Mattered:
LE FONDRE CHANCE – 14’ – Burgess flicks a reverse pass to Le Fondre who gets in behind but the keeper is out quickly to save as he tries to lift the ball over.
LE FONDRE CHANCE – 36’ – Buhagiar bursts forward and slides the ball through to Le Fondre in the box, who cuts inside but his shot lacks power.
LE FONDRE SHOT – 50’ – The striker curls a shot from the edge of the box to the far corner which the keeper catches.
TSUNODA MISS – 71’ – A right wing pull back to Tsunoda sees the full back completely miss the target.
TSUNODA GOAL – 81’ – A left wing corner isn’t cleared and Tsunoda smashes the ball home from just inside the box.
BURGESS HEADER SAVED – 90’+4’ – A left wing corner to the back post is headed down by Burgess towards goal but a scrambling goalkeeper gets back across to save just on the goal-line.
What They Said: Steve Corica: “I’m very happy with the way we have been playing and the chances we’ve been creating.
“We’ve only conceded two goals, and there was just a bit of sloppiness from the corner kick.
“What I’m not happy with is our chances which we are not converting into goals, because that is what’s costing us. I say it every game at the moment.
“We’ve had opportunities in every game, probably the better opportunities in every game and we haven’t got the results we should be getting.”
Match Report
Sydney FC have lost a tight AFC Champions League Group H match – their 9th game in the space of a month – thanks to a late scrambled goal for the Japanese Champions.
The Sky Blues had good chances and should have taken the lead in the first half through Adam Le Fondre but couldn’t convert as both sides struggled to cope with the heat and the third game in a week.
Yokohama rarely threatened until Tsunoda fashioned an opening which he put wide in the 71st minute, however he made up for it ten minutes later making no mistake from a failure to clear a corner.
Burgess had a chance late on with a header at the back post but the keeper made a last ditch save and the points were lost.
Sydney FC: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE, 2. James DONACHIE, 4. Alex WILKINSON (3. Ben WARLAND 64’), 5. Connor O’TOOLE (21. Harry VAN DER SAAG 24’), 6. Mustafa AMINI, 12. Trent BUHAGIAR (27. Elvis KAMSOBA 64’), 14. Adam LE FONDRE (9. BOBÔ 76’), 17. Anthony CACERES, 22. Max BURGESS, 25. Callum TALBOT (8. Paulo RETRE 76’), 32. Patrick YAZBEK.
Unused Subs: 30. Adam PAVLESIC (GK), 10. Milos NINKOVIC, 31. Adrian SEGECIC, 33. Pat WOOD, 35. Liam MCGING.
Yellow Cards: Burgess 44’.
Red Cards: None.
Yokohama F. Marinos: 1. Yohei TAKAOKA, 2. Katsuya NAGATO (33. Ryotaro TSUNODA 61’), 4. Shinnosuke HATANAKA, 5. Carlos EDUARDO, 6. Kouta WATANABE (24. Tomoki IWATA 70’), 9. Leonardo PEREIRA, 10. Marcos SANTOS (30. Takuma NISHIMURA 61’), 16. Joel CHIMA (8. Takuya KIDA 86’), 17. Ryo MIYAICHI, 23. Teruhito NAKAGAWA (18. Kota MIZUNUMA 70’), 25. Ryuta KOIKE.
Subs: 34. Hiro NAKABAYASHI, 26. Yuta KOIKE, 27. Ken MATSUBARA, 28. Riku YAMANE, 35. Ryonosuke KABAYAMA.
Yellow Cards: Nagato 17’, Marcos Junior 58’, Takaoka 90’+4’.
Red Cards: None.
Venue: Thong Nhat Stadium.
Referee: Asep SAPUTRA (Indonesia)
