Sydney FC Share The Points With City Rivals In Fierce Opener

Sydney FC ended all square and goalless in the season opening Sydney Derby against Western Sydney Wanderers despite a battling and fierce performance against their cross city rivals.

Sydney FC (0) draw Western Sydney Wanderers (0).

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

9’ | GARUCCIO LEADS THE ATTACK – A well-played through-ball over the top from Popovic finds the feet of Garuccio on the left who claims the space in front of him before cutting the ball back to Quintal, however the ball gets caught up in the defensive traffic and ultimately cleared.

21’ | TOURE BRINGS THE PACE – A collected ball is played quickly from the hands of Devenish-Meares into the path of a blazing Al Hassan Toure who calmly switches the play to a patient Quintal who is ultimately caught up by Madanha.

Alexander Popovic of Sydney FC fights to win the ball.

24’ | SYDNEY FC DEFENSIVE WORK – Waraga drives towards Sydney FC’s box on the left and after Hollman defends the cross, the ball deflects back to the feet of Waraga who takes a shot which lands just wide of the post to keep the scoreline unchanged.

26’ | QUINTAL SHOT – Sekine does well to weave through traffic into Western Sydney Wanderers box and keeps possession of the ball which is cut back to Quintal for a shot with his left which flies just above the crossbar.

39’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – A quick string of passes from Western Sydney Wanderers creates a strong chance after the ball falls to the feet of Gillion on the edge of the 6-yard box, however Devenish-Meares is there to make the save and deny the opportunity.

55’ | SAVED BY DEVENISH-MEARES – A fast counterattack leads to Gillion cutting the ball back to the edge of the 18-yard box to a waiting Di Pizio, who strikes the ball on the volley towards the top corner of the goal, however denied by Devenish-Meares who makes a diving safe.

65’ | SUNDAY PLAYS FORWARD – A forward solo run from Sunday looks to come to an end until a deflection continues his momentum forward to find him charging toward the keeper. Sunday slows his run to try to cut around the defender before ultimately getting caught up, bringing the attack to an end.

82’ | AKON CROSS – Some nice footwork on the left wing from Akon leads to a ball being placed in the center of Western Sydney Wanderers box, landing to the feet of Gabriel Popovic who gets a shot off, however Thomas does well to claim the ball and dismiss the chance.

90’ OVERY MAJOR CHANCE – A long ball played forward from Akon brings a major chance for the Sky Blues when Overy is there to collect the ball on his path and carry it into the box, managing to get a shot off after finding himself one on one with the keeper, however Thomas spreads his arms wide to reject the shot.

Sydney FC fans show their support during the round one A-League Men match between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers

MATCH REPORT

Sydney FC secured a point in the deadlock season opener against cross city rivals.

The Sky Blues headed to Allianz Stadium to face the Western Sydney Wanderers searching for a fast start to their 2026/27 A-League season in the 45^th Sydney Derby to date. Both sides look strong entering the match with Sydney FC ready to use the firepower of new additions to the squad Jake Hollman, Oriola Sunday and Takahiro Sekine who join the starting 11 for their first A-League match wearing Sky Blue.

The game opened fiercely and fast with both teams using their width to create quick chances and their physicality to battle for possession in the midfield. Sydney FC showed their dominance in the first third of the game with Takahiro Sekine and Al Hassan Toure standing out early with big chances created in the 9^th and 21^st minutes, both of which end with Quintal facing goal, however the Wanderers defenders do well to minimise the chance and keep the score level.

Oriola Sunday of Sydney FC controls the ball.

The rest of the first half sees Devenish-Meares perform well under pressure, making saves appear easy as he calmly collects shots to lead the Sky Blues into a tied game at halftime after what was a physical and grueling first half.

The second half opens the same as the first with frequent tackles and challenges as both teams compete to find the opener to their season and put pressure on their rivals. The first major chance of the second half came in the 65^th minute when Oriola Sunday found himself persevering forward towards goal despite facing defenders. Sunday slows his pace to cut around his defender, however some strong defensive work from the Western Sydney Wanderers denies the opportunity.

A high press and constant pressure from Sydney FC looked to pay off in the 82^nd minute when Akol Akon noticed the space in front of Gabriel Popovic and delivered a perfect pin pass which arrived at Popovic’s path in front of goal. The shot gets claimed by Thomas and Sydney FC remain in search of the deciding goal. The 90^th minute of the game saw once last chance for the Sky Blues as Akon sends another well delivered ball, this time to the feet of James Overy who gets a shot off, ultimately to the hands of the keeper, reducing Sydney FC’s hope for a last-minute winner and seeing the game off nil-nil.

WHAT THEY SAID: PATRICK KISNORBO

“I’m happy with the way my team competed today and ran and put in effort and won duels, things that maybe aren’t big for some but are big for me.”

“Something I can say is our effort was 100%, our mentality of not getting beat, our mentality of running to the final whistle.”

“I think at the start of the game there was a couple chances that we could have capitalised on … but in terms of what they did tonight, they did everything I asked them to do.”

LINEUPS SYDNEY FC | 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 9. Oriola SUNDAY (16. Gabriel POPOVIC (80’)), 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 14. Takahiro SEKINE (2. James OVERY (80’)), 15. Jake HOLLMAN (8. Wataru KAMIJO (80’)), 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL, 23. Rhyan GRANT (Captain), 35. Al Hassan TOURE (7. Akol AKON (66’)), 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC.

Unused Substitutions | 28. Ethan DYER, 29. Joe LACEY, 30. Sandy ZAVERDINOS (GK).

Yellow Cards | 15. Jake HOLLMAN (51’), 41. Alexandar POPOVIC (62’), 9. Oriola SUNDAY (75’), 17. Ben GARUCCIO (90’).

Red Cards | N/A

Manager | Patrick KISNORBO

LINEUPS WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS | 3. Alex GERSBACH (17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO (80’)), 8. Dylan SCICLUNA, 10. Miguel DI PIZIO, 14. Nicolas MILANOVIC (7. Aydan HAMMOND (69’)),19. Awan LUAL (11. Atiya WARAGA (13’)), 20. Larence THOMAS (GK), 21. Liam GILLION (9. Hiroshi IBUSUKI (80’)), 22. Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 32. Angus THURGATE (24. Nathan BARRIE (80’)), 33. German FERREYRA (Captain), 36. Panashe MADANHA.

Unused Substitutions | 23. Jordan HOLMES (GK), 27. Jai ROSE.

Yellow Cards | 10. Miguel DI PIZIO (33’), 14. Nicolas MILANOVIC (52’), 33. German FERREYRA (65’), 8. Dylan SCICLUNA (86’), 17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO (90+3’).