Sydney FC have suffered their first defeat of the season going down to two second half Melbourne City goals after taking a first half lead through Al-Hassan Toure.
The winger was also denied a second by the offside flag to level the score on the hour mark as the Sky Blues succumbed 2-1.
Sydney FC 1 (Toure 37’) def. by Melbourne City FC 2 (Marcondes 46’, Mabil 63’)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
19’ | SUNDAY SOLO EFFORT WIDE – Sunday runs unchallenged towards the edge of the box and a right foot shot goes just wide of the post.
37’ | TOURE GOAL – Youlley finds the run of Sunday on the wide left who passes inside to Toure and the winger bends a curling shot into the far right corner to open the lead.
46’ | MARCONDES GOAL – A long throw falls to the unmarked substitute at the back post and with his first touch drills the ball low past Devenish-Meares who got a hand to it.
47’ | NABBOUT HITS POST – A left wing crossed is flicked goalwards by the head of Nabbout and hits the base of the right hand post, before Marcondes forces Devenish-Meares into another save with a header from another cross.
54’ | AKON CHANCE – A one two on the left releases Akon in the box but his cross is just behind Sunday, who would have had a tap in, when Akol could have gone himself and shot.
58’ | TOURE GOAL DISALLOWED – Akon releases Toure through on goal down the centre of the park and he finishes but had gone just a fraction too early and the goal is offside.
63’ | MABIL GOAL – A ball through the middle of the park isn’t dealt with and Mabil pokes the ball into the far corner.
79’ | GARUCCIO SHOT OFF THE LINE – Quintal dribbles into the box but is tackled and the ball comes out to Garuccio who curls an effort just inside the post but Atkinson clears from near his goalline.
MATCH REPORT
Sydney FC has lost its first game of the season going down 2-1 away to Melbourne City having taken a first half lead and having another goal disallowed.
Akol Akon came into the starting line-up in place of Tiago Quintal in an otherwise unchanged line up for the Sky Blues as the team wore their new The Cove inspired jersey for the very first time.
The opening stage produced not many clear cut chances although Akol Akon’s run and curling close came close before Oriola Sunday drove forward and shot just past the post in 19 minutes.
While City were aggressive in attack and put pressure on the Sky Blues backline, Sydney FC looked comfortable on the counter and the deadlock was broken in the 37th minute.
Youlley found Sunday on the wide left with a ball into space and he fed the ball back to Toure who had plenty of time to turn and curl a right foot shot into the far corner.
City began the second half with vigour and were level in 46 seconds when new substitute Marcondes snatched a shot at the back post from a long throw which hadn’t been dealt with despite Devenish getting a hand two it.
A minute later they should have been ahead when Nabbout hit the base of the post from a header and Marcondes then forced the Sky Blues keeper into a save from another header.
Sydney FC were soon into the game with Akol Akon making his way down the left hand side and crossing for Sunday but the ball was just behind him for an open goal.
The Sky Blues thought they were back in the lead just before the hour when Akon released Toure down the middle but he was called back for offside despite finishing the goal.
City were back in the lead in the 63rd minute when Mabil scrapped through the Sky Blues back line and poked the ball into the top corner from just inside the box.
The next big chance to equalize fell to Ben Garuccio but was cleared off the line by Atkinson following good work from Quintal. Garuccio trying to curl the ball left footed into the corner before Atkinson intervened when the ball fell to him.
It was the last real chance of any note as the Sky Blues return to action next Friday night at home to Central Coast Mariners in an attempt to get back to winning ways.
WHAT THEY SAID: Patrick Kisnorbo: “I don’t think it got away from us. I think we made two mistakes and that cost us.
“We had a couple of chances to score. In games like that, you need to know how to win and learn how to win, especially with the dominant first-half performance.
“But it’s disappointing because I think they’re two errors that really shouldn’t happen.
“With a young squad, they’re going to have to learn, and maybe this will hurt. But it’s part of what it is, and we can’t control that.
“We’re hurting today, but this is the moment where they have to learn.
“It’s a difficult situation when you know you could have done better, but it is what it is.
“We had a couple of good chances. Even in the second half, maybe a pass was underhit or overhit. That’s the difference at the moment.
“That’s what we have to learn from, get better at and improve.”
Sydney FC: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 7. Akol AKON (2. James OVERY 73’), 8. Wataru KAMIJO (29. Joseph LACEY 73’), 9. Oriola SUNDAY, 14. Takahiro SEKINE (22. Mathias MACALLISTER 86’), 17. Benjamin GARUCCIO, 23. Rhyan GRANT (Captain), 35. Al Hassan TOURE (20. Tiago QUINTAL 63’), 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC.
Substitutes |16. Gabriel POPOVIC, 28. Ethan DYER, 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (GK).
Yellow Cards | Courtney-Perkins 65’, A.Popovic 69’
Red Cards | None
Head Coach | Patrick KISNORBO
Melbourne City: 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN (GK), 2. Harrison DELBRIDGE, 11. Awer MABIL, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 14. Besian KUTLESHI (10. Emiliano MARCONDES 46’), 15. Andrew NABBOUT, 16. Aziz BEHICH (Captain), 18. Julio CASCANTE (4. Liam BONETIG 73’), 19. Quinn MACNICOL (7. Mathew LECKIE 63’), 23. Medin MEMETI (77. Takeshi KANAMORI 64’), 24. Kavian RAHMANI (39. Roland BALLAH 79’).
Substitutes |38. Beckham BAKER, 50. Jonty BENFIELD (GK).
Yellow Cards | None
Red Cards | None
Head Coach | Aurelio VIDMAR
Referee | Ben ABRAHAM
Venue | AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off | 5:00pm AEDT
