Sydney FC secured all three Hyundai A-League competition points in their final home fixture of the 2010/11 season with a 2-0 win over the Wellington Phoenix at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday night.
Sydney FC secured all three Hyundai A-League competition points in their final home fixture of the 2010/11 season with a 2-0 win over the Wellington Phoenix at the Sydney Football Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Sky Blues were out to continue their six match unbeaten run and could have been at least four goals up in the first fifteen minutes of the game if not for some excellent saves by Wellington-s goalkeeper Danny Vukovic.
But two second half goals, including an excellent team goal that was perfectly finished by Brendan Gan, saw the Sky Blues claim their eighth win of the year.
“I would like to thank you Sydney FC supporters. We are unhappy we did not reach the finals this season but we still have a season target to play good football in the Asian Champions League and bring some good results. Please stay with us,” Sydney FC coach Vitezlsav Lavicka said.
“I am pretty happy because we created many chances tonight which means we played actively but we should score more than two goals.
“That is football. I am happy that the players still have the desire, the team unity and spirit to play good football. This is good preparation for the Asian Champions League.”
With Dimitri Petratos missing out for six weeks with an ankle injury, Juho Makela was handed his first start of the campaign, partnering Bruno Cazarine up front.
The new partnership looks to be heading the right direction as Sydney created nine goal scoring opportunities in the first half, of which eight were on target.
Scott Jamieson was vital in keeping teenager Marco Rojas quiet along the flanks, preventing Wellington from creating goal scoring opportunities. Despite utterly dominating the first stanza, the Sky Blues couldn-t find that opening goals.
However, Sydney FC broke the deadlock in the 54th minute from an unlikely source.A determined run into the box from Nick Carle ended up with him being brought down and the referee had no other choice but to point to the spot.
Carle stood up to take the spot kick which was saved by Vukovic. He then saved Carle-s second effort before the resulting rebound came off Nick Ward and Vukovic was finally beaten.
Carle was substituted in the 65th minute for Brendan Gan and coach Lavicka‘s move paid dividends immediately as Gan increased the tally with almost his first touch of the game.
A clever move on the right by Shannon Cole followed by a squared ball to an unmarked Gan who slotted the ball home for Sydney-s second for the night.
Sydney almost capped of the great match with a third goal but Shannon Cole-s final shot of the match came of the post as the referee put the game to a conclusion.
Captain McFlynn was full of praises for the team, as well as Vukovic, and believes that the team deserved the victory.
“Danny has shown over the course of six years over in the A-League he is a fantastic goalkeeper. We created the chances so thankfully we got a couple past him,” he said.
“We always focus on the performance at Sydney FC. We-ve got to believe in what we are doing, we work hard every day so the first half was a testament to the boys taken from the training ground and put it into practice into the game.
In the end, the win extended Sydney FC-s unbeaten run to seven matches and they will play their final match against Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park Stadium on Saturday, 12th February.
Match Detail:
Sydney FC: 2 (WARD og 54′, GAN 69′)
Wellington Phoenix FC: 0
Sydney FC line-up: 1. Liam REDDY (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. Stephan KELLER, 6. Hirofumi MORIYASU, 9. Bruno CAZARINE (11. Kofi DANNING 75′), 10. Nick CARLE (7. Brendan GAN 66′), 12. Shannon COLE, 15. Terry McFLYNN (c) (22. Sung-Hwan BYUN 83′), 17. Matthew JURMAN, 18. Juho MAKELA, 21. Scott JAMIESON.
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Ivan NECEVSKI (gk).
Yellow Cards: Nil.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: 4. Nick WARD 54’og, 7. Brendan GAN 69′.
Wellington Phoenix FC line-up: 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 4. Nick WARD, 6. Tim BROWN (c), 9. Chris GREENACRE, 11. DANIEL (24. Sean LOVEMORE 65′), 12. James MUSA, 13. Troy HEARFIELD, 15. Jade NORTH, 19. Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 21. Marco ROJAS, 23. Dylan MACALLISTER (10. Oscar Roberto CORNEJO 69′).
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Reece CROWTHER (gk), 26. Aaron CLAPHAM.
Yellow Cards: Nil.
Red Cards: Nil.
Goals: Nil.
Referee: Peter GREEN
Crowd: 4 732 at the Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney.
