Sydney FC has lost an agonising game 2-1 through a late winner from Luka Jovanovic in a game which the Sky Blues could easily have won.
Sydney FC 1 (Quintal 14’) def. by Adelaide United 2 (Kitto 18’, Jovanovic 87’)
It saw new signings Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan make a big impression off the bench after Tiago Quintal had given Sydney FC a first half lead.
There’s a quick turnaround for the Sky Blues as they face title challengers Auckland FC in a re-arranged game on Tuesday night at Leichhardt Oval.
Moments That Mattered:
14’ | QUINTAL GOAL – Okon drives at the Reds defence beating two men before a tackle pushes the ball to Quintal in the inside left of the box and he rifles a shot beyond the keeper.
18’ | KITTO GOAL – Barnett gets into the box in the right channel and plays the ball across to Kitto who finishes from the penalty spot.
33’ | QUISPE SHOT SAVED – Good pressing from the Sky Blues wins the ball back and Quintal backheels to Garuccio who finds Quispe bearing down on goal, but the Peruvian’s shot is saved from a tight angle and goes out for a corner.
43’ | TISSERAND HEADS OFF THE BAR – Garuccio’s left foot corner from the right is headed by Tisserand inside the six yard box off the bar and cleared.
48’ | GREAT SAVE DEVENISH – Dukuly gets into a good position just outside the area and tries to place it left footed into the corner but Devenish-Meares dives full length to tip it around the post.
56’ | DEVENISH SAVES AGAIN – Yull shoots from range this time and Devenish-Meares is across to save low to his left.
62’ | STAMATELOPOULOS HEADER JUST OVER – Seconds after coming on the Sky Blues new signing gets his head to a Garuccio left wing cross and it goes just over the bar.
63’ | ARSLAN SHOT SAVED – The Sky Blues second new signing gets in on the act latching onto a little nudge from Stama before unleashing a left foot shot which is saved brilliantly by Smit.
73’ | DEVENISH SAVES TWICE – Two shots from distance from Alagich are saved well by Sydney FC’s keeper.
75’ | ARSLAN CHIP TIPPED WIDE – A ball forward sees keeper Smits come off his line but Stamatelopoulos gets there first to lay it back to Arslan who’s goalward chip is sent wide by Smits fingertips.
76’ | GREAT DEVENISH SAVE – Dukuly drives into the box as the Sky Blues defence back off and lashes a shot to the keeper’s left but Devenish-Meares reacts brilliantly to save low to his left.
87’ | JOVANOVIC GOAL – The Adelaide winger drives towards goal and gets within shooting distance. He takes the shot which deflects and bobbles over the legs of Devenish-Meares to seal Adelaide’s win.
Match Report: Sydney FC have gone down to a late winner against Adelaide in an entertaining game in which both sides created chances to score and the Sky Blues had the upper hand for large parts of the game.
Ufuk Talay brought Joe Lolley onto the bench at the expense of young Akon, while new signings Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan came onto the bench with Jordan Courtney-Perkins returning as well.
The Sky Blues were the first to strike in the 14th minute when Okon made a dart towards the Adelaide defence and was tackled with the ball falling to Quintal. The 19-year-old took a touch and smashed the ball left footed beyond Smits in goal.
Adelaide struck back quickly however with an attack down the Sydney FC right. Barnett got into a good position to receive the ball and crossed to Kitto who struck home by the penalty spot on 18.
It was an open and entertaining game with both sides trading attacks. Sydney FC came close when their press forced a turnover and Quispe was denied from a tight angle just after the half hour.
And it was Sydney FC who nearly went into the break in the ascendancy when Garuccio’s 43rd minute, in-swinging, corner from the right was headed off the bar by Tisserand but the scores stayed level at half time.
It was the Reds who came closest early in the second half to taking the lead but Dukuly was denied by a fabulous low save from Devenish-Meares with his right hand, and he was called into action moments later on 56 minutes when Yull had a long range effort saved.
The moment of truth came on the hour when both new signings Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Ahmet Arslan were introduced and made an immediate impact.
Stamatelopoulos headed narrowly over the bar in the 62nd minute before Arslan had a snap shot from 20 yards saved low down by keeper Smits 60 seconds later.
Devenish-Meares saved two long range efforts in quick succession from Alagich in the 73rd before he reacted brilliantly to deny Dukuly down low to his left in the 76th.
Those two chances sandwiched an Arslan opportunity as he tried to lob goalkeeper Smits from 25 yards following a touch back from Stamatelopoulos.
However it wasn’t to be the Sky Blues night and Jovanovic punished the home side with a deflected shot which left Devenish-Meares red-faced after a spectacular night of saves.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay:-
“[I’m] disappointed, definitely. I think we had a good 15-minute period in the first half and a good 20-minute period in the second half. The boys that came on gave us good energy and created some good moments.
“I was on the bench speaking to Simmy, my assistant, saying that if we don’t capitalise on this moment it’s going to hurt us down the track, because we had good momentum and created some moments to score.
“We didn’t capitalise, and that’s what happens in football. We were a little bit stretched, and that’s Adelaide’s game — they love transition and they capitalised on that moment to score the winner.
“Overall, disappointed to lose at home. We scored a good goal early and then conceded four minutes later, which makes it difficult.
“If you don’t capitalise on your moments in the second half — and we created some big chances — and then you make a change not to chase the game but to win it at home, and you still lose, it’s frustrating.
“I think the deflection hurt Harrison there. I think it would have been quite a simple save otherwise. Then you lose the game 2–1.
“He’s disappointed in himself, but players make thousands of mistakes and don’t get punished for them. Unfortunately for a goalkeeper — and I don’t even think it [the goal] was his mistake, to be honest — when something happens, it tends to be a goal and it stands out.
“He’s going to concede goals like that again in his career. We have to move on. We’ve got a very short turnaround to our next game on Tuesday.”
Sydney FC | 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES, 23. Rhyan GRANT (c), 32. Marcel TISSERAND, 5. Alex GRANT, 17. Ben GARRUCIO, 24. Paul OKON-ENGSTLER, 6. Corey HOLLMAN (70. Ahmet ARSLAN 60’), 10. Joe LOLLEY (44. Akol AKON 86’), 20. Tiago QUINTAL (36. Rhys YOULLEY 80’), 7. Piero QUISPE, 9. Victor CAMPUZANO (80. Apostolos STAMATELOSPOULOUS 60’).
Unused Subs | 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 22. Mathias MACALLISTER.
Head Coach | Ufuk TALAY
Yellow Cards | Okon 67’, Tisserand 72’.
Red Cards | N/A
Adelaide United FC | 22.Joshua SMITS (GK), 3.Bart VRIENDS, 7.Ryan KITTO, 9.Luka JOVANOVIĆ (74.Amlani TATU 90’), 10.Juan MUÑIZ (35.Brody BURKITT 67’), 12.Jonny YULL (65.Joey GARUCCIO 90’), 14.Jay BARNETT, 19.Yaya DUKULY (17.Ben FOLAMI 77’), 44.Ryan WHITE (23.Luke DUZEL67’), 52.Sotiri PHILLIS, 55.Ethan ALAGICH.
Unused Subs | 13.Max VARTULI (GK), 54.Bailey O’NEIL.
Head Coach | Airton ARTOLI
Yellow Cards | Barnett 14’, Alagich 29’, Vriends 70’.
Red Cards | N/A
Venue | Allianz Stadium
Referee | Ben Abrahams
Attendance | 8,816
