Sydney FC have thrashed Melbourne Victory 3-0 in a rain swept Leichhardt Oval in the 67th Isuzu-UTE A-League Big Blue, thanks to a Joe Lolley brace and an Alex Grant header.
It’s a fourth win in a row sending them top of the table on 12 points.
They’ll head to CommBank Stadium next Saturday to take on Western Sydney Wanderers in the Sydney Derby.
Sydney FC 3 (Lolley 58’, 70’ Alex Grant 77’) def. Melbourne Victory 0
Moments That Mattered:
25’ | RHYAN GRANT CLEARANCE – Jelacic finds himself on the right-wing, sizing up and beating King to the byline, before firing a low driven ball in. Alex Grant gets in the way touching it into open play, Mata lines up the shot but Rhyan Grant slides in for a last ditched tackle.
43’ | RHYAN GRANT CHANCE – Lolley takes the set piece at the edge of the 18-yard box, floating a ball to the back post, finding the head of Grant who puts it wide.
47’ | YOULLEY CHANCE – Lolley picks up the ball at the right corner post, dribbling to the box and driving a ball to Youlley who lashes it towards the bottom right corner, Duncan gets down low to deny.
57’ | TOURE CHANCE – Okon wins the aerial battle against Mata, driving through the middle of the field and laying it off to Campuzano. He finds Toure at the edge of the area, hitting it wide of the far corner.
58’ | LOLLEY GOAL – Campuzano plays the ball down the left-hand side to King, who crosses to Lolley, who lashes it first time just inside the area into the back of the net and beyond Duncan, Sydney FC lead 1-0.
70’| LOLLEY GOAL – Lolley breaks from his own 18-yard box, weaving in and out of danger. He drives forward looking left and right, using the off the ball runs of Walatee and Campuzano before delivering a sucker punch strike within eleven minutes of his initial goal, Sydney FC lead 2-0.
77’ | ALEX GRANT GOAL – Quispe whips in corner kick into the box, Alex Grant gets up high to head it home for a three-goal lead.
85’ | DUNCAN SAVE – Campuzano pounces on a defensive error by Miranda, breaking into the box, and tries to nestle it into the bottom left corner. Duncan at full stretch deflects it wide for a corner kick with his foot.
Match Report: Sydney FC has smashed Melbourne Victory 3-0 to win the Big Blue and move top of the Isuzu-UTE A-League ladder.
They opened the big blue with a strong spell of build-up play, engineering passing lanes and dictating movement.
Lolley tested the Melbourne Victory defence early on, driving into the 18-yard box and releasing a shot of true force but he scuffs the ground before the shot and the ball flies wide.
The slippery surface proves difficult for both teams, however the Sky Blues have the majority share of the ball early on, and consistently break down Diles’ defensive line, without being able to find the opening goal.
Victory begins to put Sydney FC on the back foot with 20 minutes remaining when Jelacic gets past King, to the byline and whips a ball into danger. Alex Grant gets in the way touching it into open space, Mata follows up but is blocked by Rhyan Grant.
The Sky Blues have to be thankful to Harrison Devenish-Meares who makes a couple of good saves from two dangerous Victory shots as the half draws to a close.
The second of the two happened with five minutes remaining in the half. Genreau picks up the loose ball at the edge of the area, breaks past Tisserand and hits a shot of velocity, which the keeper pushes back into play.
The end-to-end action in the final minutes of the first half is displayed in the form of a Lolley free kick. He lofts it to the back post, meeting the head of Rhyan Grant who puts it wide.
The Sky Blues head into half-time level.
Sydney FC begin the second half firing at all fronts, breaking into a counterattack early on with Toure driving and releasing a ball to Campuzano who turns and shoots, Duncan hits it away.
The ball is rolled to the right-corner, Lolley picks it up and dribbles forward, passing to Youlley, who wastes no time getting the shot off and Duncan gets down quick to deny.
With just over 30 minutes remaining Talay’s men create an array of chances.
Okon wins the aerial dual against Mata, dribbling and passing it to Campuzano who twists and gets it away to Toure. He hits a mesmerising shot from outside the box, which skims the far corner and out of play.
Moments later, Campuzano releases up the left flank to the feet of King. His pass to Lolley inside the box sets up the Englishman to lash the ball first time beyond Duncan for the opening goal of the game and Sydney FC lead 1-0 in 58th minutes.
Eleven minutes later Lolley doubles his goal tally, beginning the counterattack in his own half. Tisserand dinks it to Lolley just outside his own 18 yard box. He drives forward, analyses the situation by looking left then right, before going all the way to fire Sydney FC 2-0 in front and capping off an outstanding performance.
The Sky Blues continue to make forays at the opposition and win a corner kick in the 77th minute. Peruvian Quispe steps up to take it and lofts a ball into the six-yard box, where Alex Grant gets above the Melbourne Victory central defenders, and heads it past Duncan for his first Isuzu-UTE A-League goal for Sydney FC and a three-goal lead.
The 3-0 statement win against Melbourne Victory puts Talay’s side to the top of the table on 12 points, winning four games in a row, head heading into the Sydney Derby next Saturday
Sydney FC begin the second half firing at all fronts, breaking into a counterattack early on with Toure driving and releasing a ball to Campuzano who turns and shoots, Duncan hits it away.
The ball is rolled to the right-corner, Lolley picks it up and dribbles forward, passing to Youlley, who wastes no time getting the shot off and Duncan gets down quick to deny.
With just over 30 minutes remaining Talay’s men create an array of chances.
Okon wins the aerial dual against Mata, dribbling and passing it to Campuzano who twists and gets it away to Toure. He hits a mesmerising shot from outside the box, which skims the far corner and out of play.
Moments later, Campuzano releases up the left flank to the feet of King. His pass to Lolley inside the box sets up the Englishman to lash the ball first time beyond Duncan for the opening goal of the game and Sydney FC lead 1-0 in 58th minutes.
Eleven minutes later Lolley doubles his goal tally, beginning the counterattack in his own half. Tisserand dinks it to Lolley just outside his own 18 yard box. He drives forward, analyses the situation by looking left then right, before going all the way to fire Sydney FC 2-0 in front and capping off an outstanding performance.
The Sky Blues continue to make forays at the opposition and win a corner kick in the 77th minute. Peruvian Quispe steps up to take it and lofts a ball into the six-yard box, where Alex Grant gets above the Melbourne Victory central defenders, and heads it past Duncan for his first Isuzu-UTE A-League goal for Sydney FC and a three-goal lead.
The 3-0 statement win against Melbourne Victory puts Talay’s side to the top of the table on 12 points, winning four games in a row, head heading into the Sydney Derby next Saturday.
Post-Match Interviews: Ufuk Talay (Coach)
What they said: Ufuk Talay: “Being consistent with the squad has definitely helped getting through the international window with three players away and coming back at a good level Friday morning ready to play this game.
“Very pleased with the outcome, I think the second half was a good performance even the first half we were quite well just couldn’t find that moment for the goal.
“That moment (Lolley solo goal) doesn’t happen if we don’t have those runners [Walatee & Campuzano], he’s a smart player, he is very important and we set up the team to create moments and set up goals.
“We had a great turnout today considering the weather at Leichhardt, we will make sure the boys recover well will prepare them for Wanderers away from home, its good they got a win, it’ll make it a bit more hyper for the game coming up.”
Sydney FC (Home) | Formation: 4-4-2: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 5. Alex GRANT (4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS 90’), 32. Marcel TISSERAND, 16. Joel KING, 23. Rhyan GRANT (C), 24. Paul OKON-ENGSTLER, 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 35. Al Hassan TOURE (11. Abel WALATEE 60’), 10. Joesph LOLLEY (13. Patrick WOOD 88’) 7. Piero Quispe CORDOVA, 9. Victor CAMPUZANO
Head Coach: Ufuk TALAY
Unused Substitutions: 1. Gus HOESFLOOT (GK), 41. Alexander POPOVIC, 8. Wataru KAMIJO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL
Yellow Cards: 13. Patrick WOOD 66’
Red Cards: None
Melbourne Victory (Away) | Formation: 4-3-3: 25. Jack DUNCAN, 4. Lachlan JACKSON (15. Sebastian ESPOSITO 74’), 21. Roderick MIRANDA (C), 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 10. Denis GENREAU, 8. Jordi VALADON (27. Louis D’ARRIGO 75’), 64. Juan MATA (34. Xavier STELLA 82’), 14. Mattew GRIMALDI (11. Clerismario RODRIGUES 75’), 23. Keegan JELACIC, 19. Jing REEC (9. Nikos VERGOS 60’)
Head Coach: Arthur DILES
Unused Substitutions: 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY (GK), 22. Joshua RAWLINS
Yellow Cards: 2. Jason DAVIDSON 66’
Red Cards: None
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, NSW
Attendance: 10,916
Referee: Alex KING
