Sydney FC have moved into second place for now on the Ninja A-League ladder with a 2-0 win over Perth Glory at Leichhardt Oval this afternoon.
Goals from Bianca Galic and Riley Tanner secured the win in a clinical performance in the second half.
Sydney FC 2 (Galic 53’, Tanner 70’) def. Perth Glory 0
Moments That Mattered:
16’ | HAWKESBY SHOT – Hawkesby tries a chip from just outside the box but it goes over.
23’ | TOVAR HITS THE POST – A Sydney FC defensive clearance ricochets into the path of Tovar who shoots hitting the base of the post and it’s cleared.
32’ | ROBERTSON SAVE – Phongsongkham’s free kick is heading for the top corner until Robertson flies to her right and tips it onto the post.
53’ | GALIC GOAL – A fine cross-field pass from Cassar finds Tanner in space. The winger drives into the box dribbling past two defenders before cutting the ball back to Galic who side foots home with the aid of a deflection.
56’ | LIGHTNING BREAK – Players are forced off the field due to lightning in the vicinity and return at 5.15pm.
58’ | CASPERS SHOT SAVED – Caspers wins the ball and charges free before hitting a right footed shot inside the area which a diving Perth keeper palms away from the top corner.
70’ | TANNER GOAL – Great pressing forces the turnover to Caspers who plays the ball first time into Hawkesby who feeds Tanner to drill a low left footed shot into the far corner.
77’ | CASSAR SHOT SAVED – Hawkesby feeds Cassar for a free shot on goal but it’s palmed away by Dall’oste.
90′ | HALMARICK HITS POST – Halmarick almost marks here debut with a goal but her shot from inside the box hits the upright.
Match Report: Sydney FC has secured their first win of the season beating Perth Glory 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Bianca Galic and Riley Tanner at Leichhardt Oval.
The Sky Blues started off well without creating anything clearcut, the best chance coming to Hawkesby on her 101st appearance, when she tried a lob from the edge of the box which went over.
As the half wore on Perth Glory grew more into the game. Tovar almost benefitted from failed clearance but could only hit the post when the Sky Blues defence opened up on 23 minutes.
The Glory were denied again almost 10 minutes later when Phongsongkham’s curling free kick was tipped onto the post by a fine save from Robertson, and they went into the break deadlocked.
Seven minutes into the second half that deadlock was broken by Sydney FC, after Cassar drilled a superb ball across the pitch to Tanner. The winger ghosted past two Perth defenders before slipping the ball to Galic who passed the ball into the empty net with the aid of a deflection off a Perth player.
With Sydney FC on the up, the skies clouded over and lightning forced both teams off the pitch for an hour.
The Sky Blues started as they left off and straight after the resumption Caspers went through and tested the keeper Dall’oste with a thumping shot from inside the box.
Lemon also made the Perth keeper work with a shot at the near post having come in on her right foot.
It wasn’t long before the Sky Blues doubled the lead as Tanner and Hawkesby put pressure on the Perth backline. They gave the ball away to Caspers who hit a first time pass back to Hawkesby and she fed Tanner for the American to shoot low into the far corner.
Cassar should have made it 3-0 in the 77th minute when she was fed in by Hawkesby but the keeper made a good save.
Young substitute Skye Halmarick almost put the icing on the cake on debut when she burst through in the dying stages but saw her shot come back off the post and the Sky Blues saw out the game in comfort.
Post-Match Interviews: Ante Juric (Head Coach), Riley Tanner.
What they said: Ante Juric: “We’re really happy with that performance.
“The energy was good. We created a lot more chances today and obviously finished two, but defensively we’re super strong at the moment and only getting better, especially with a few changes. So definitely happy.
“I think in the first half we had a few chances — I think Mackenzie had one or two — but we didn’t capitalise.
“We spoke at half-time about being more positive and executing, and they did that in the second half. It’s just about movement and runners.
“When we do it well, we’re excellent. When we don’t, we tend to struggle. So we definitely need to be more consistent in that area.”
Riley Tanner: “I think as a team we’ve been working really hard this week. We knew that in those last two games we weren’t happy with how we performed, so we focused on fixing that. We just came together and worked on it.
“We reflected on the fact that we hadn’t been keeping possession well at all. That was a big part of our meeting this week — just focusing on possession. We know we’re all good ball-players and the team’s quality is really high, so our goal was simply to get on the ball and keep it.
“I’m really excited. I think there’s a lot more to come from us. All of the players around me are great, and we’re starting to build a lot both going back and going forward. I feel like it’s all coming together now.”
Sydney FC (Home) | Formation: 4-3-3: 30. Tiahna ROBERTSON (GK), 5. Kirsty FENTON, 4. Tori TUMETH, 7. Amelia CASSAR (19. Skye HALMARICK 90′), 13. Riley TANNER (24. Caley TALLON-HENNIKER 74’), 14. Abbey LEMON, 15. Mackenzie HAWKESBY, 16. Willa PEARSON, 21. Sarah HUNTER (C), 26. Madeleine CASPERS, 32. Bianca GALIC,
Head Coach: Ante JURIC
Unused Substitutions: 29. Alyse OPPEDISANO (GK),9. Jodi ULKEKUL, 22. Alyssa ROSE, 23. Rubi SULLIVAN.
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory (Away) | Formation: 3-4-3: 33.Alyssa DALL’OSTE (gk), 3.Emma TOVAR, 5.Grace JOHNSTON, 6.Tijan MCKENNA (12. Bronte TREW 74’), 10. Susan PHONSONGKHAM (25.Ella LINCOLN 74’), 13.Naomi CHINNAMA (27.Charli WAINWRIGHT 87’), 17.Rola BADAWIYA, 19.Sarah O’DONOGHUE (9.Gabby HOLLAR 56’), 23.Isobel DALTON (c), 24.Julia SARDO (2. Mischa ANDERSON 74’), 29.Onyinyechi ZOGG.
Head Coach: Stephen PETERS
Unused Substitutions: 30.Jessica SKINNER (gk).
Yellow Cards: Tovar 40’, Chinnama 66’, Hollar 78’.
Red Cards: None
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, NSW
Attendance: 2,122
Referee: Georgia GHIRARDELLO
