Sydney FC have notched two late goals to share the derby spoils with Western Sydney Wanderers and move into third on the ladder in front of more than 32,000 ecstatic fans at Allianz Stadium.
The Sky Blues scored three goals or more for an incredible ninth consecutive home game, with 200-game-man Anthony Caceres celebrating his milestone with the equaliser in the seventh minute of added time.
Sydney FC 2 (Klimala 7′, Segecic 88′, Caceres 90′ + 7′) def. by Western Sydney Wanderers 3 (Sapsford 9′, 47′, Grant 39′ (OG))
Moments That Mattered
2’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – Western Sydney’s Kraev is teed up 10 metres from goal, but the Sydney FC ‘keeper extends a strong right arm to repel the chance.
7’ | KLIMALA GOAL – Anthony Careres finds the darting Patryk Klimala with a glorious threaded pass which is dispatched first-time into the far corner.
9’ | SAPSFORD GOAL – Wanderers fullback Clisby whips in a powerful cross to the danger area which the Sydney FC custodian can only get a hand to, leaving Sapsford with a simple tap-in from 10.
23′ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – Former Sky Blue Brillante lets fly with a stinging angled shot inside the box, forcing Devenish-Meares to leap high to parry it to safety.
39’ | UNLUCKY GRANT – A quick counter-attack leaves Shaw exposed against Milanovic and the Western Sydney striker benefits from a one-two with Sapsford to bundle the ball home off the unfortunate Sydney FC captain.
45′ I CACERES SHOT – Sydney FC’s snake-charmer dances his way into the Wanderers’ box before stinging Western Sydney ‘keeper Thomas’s hands with a low drive.
46’ | SAPSFORD GOAL – Borello plays a reverse pass behind the Sydney defence and Sapsford snaps his second goal beyond Devenish-Meares.
58’ | DESPERATE DEFENCE – It’s a scramble in the Sydney FC goalmouth as first Caceres and then Shaw manage goal-line blocks to deny Sapsford his hat-trick.
70’ | LOLLEY CHANCE – Substitute Adrian Segecic finds room in the Wanderers’ penalty area to bend in a wicked cross that a stretching Joe Lolley can’t direct on target.
84′ I SEGECIC SHOT – Western Sydney ‘keeper Lawrence Thomas is pumped as he somehow gets a hand to Segecic’s arrowed shot from just inside the box.
88′ | SEGECIC GOAL – Unperturbed, super-sub Segecic looks to spark a late Sydney FC fightback when he spins on a pass from Grant at the top of the box and lashes the ball inside the far post.
90′ + 7′ | CACERES GOAL – The milestone man sends the stadium into raptures as he clinches a point for the Sky Blues with a close-range finish after Rhyan Grant’s spearing header from a corner is saved.
Match Report: Sydney FC has delivered another derby day thriller with two goals at the death to earn a 3-3 draw against Western Sydney Wanderers and leap to third in the ladder.
Starting the night in fifth place against the 8th place Wanderers, the Sky Blues got off to the perfect start when Anthony Caceres – honoured before the game for reaching 200 games for the club – clipped a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of Patryk Klimala in the seventh-minute for the lethal striker to notch his seventh goal of the campaign with an emphatic first-time shot.
The home side’s was short-lived, however, as the Wanderers’ Zac Sapsford capitalised on a sizzling cross that Harrison Devenish-Meares could only parry to steer the ball home from 10 metres.
The mood dipped even more sharply in the space of a few minutes either side of half-time, as the visitors benefitted first from an unfortunate own goal from Sydney FC captain Rhyan Grant, before starting the second stanza with a bang as Sapsford notched his second.
That was the signal for Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay to go to his bench, first introducing Brazilian ace Douglas Costa and then reliable spark plug Adrian Segecic.
With Western Sydney dropping deeper and deeper to defend their lead, the Sky Blues’ vaunted attack went up a gear, driven by the surging Leo Sena and the dazzling skills of Costa and Caceres.
As the clocked ticked down it all looked in vain, especially when Western Sydney ‘keeper Lawrence Thomas produced a spectacular low save to deny a Segecic shot seemingly bound for the far corner.
If at first you don’t succeed … with 88 minutes on the clock, Segecic found himself in a similar position on the edge of the box, spinning on a pass from Costa to rifle home past Thomas in front of the Cove.
And with added time almost up, Grant helped complete the comeback when he thundered a header goalward from a Costa corner, Thomas’s superb stop spilling along the line for Caceres to provide the storybook ending by sending the ball into the roof of the net.
Sydney FC are next in action at Allianz Stadium on Wednesday night in the first leg of their AFC Champions League 2 last 16 knockout tie v Thai Premier League powerhouses Bangkok United FC.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “(After half-time) they had another 45 minutes to go out there and try to win the game.”
“So look, it’s not that they weren’t hungry.
“The desire was there.”
(On celebrating the equaliser) “We can’t kick the ball anymore, mate.
“So the emotion comes down when our boys are scoring.
“And you know that feeling of the hard work that the boys put in coming back from 3-1 to come back to 3-3 and get a point out of the game.
“Of course . . . I have the desire to win.
“I’m a winner, and that’s why, most of us are in these positions.”
Sydney FC: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK) 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (16. Joel KING 80′), 6. Corey HOLLMAN, 8. Anas OUAHIM (7. Adrian SEGECIC 65′), 9. Patryk KLIMALA, 10. Joe LOLLEY (25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI 80′), 15. Leo SENA, 17. Anthony CACERES, 21. Zac DE JESUS (11. Douglas COSTA 57′), 23. Rhyan GRANT (C), 42. Kyle SHAW.
Unused Subs: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 24. Wataru KAMIJO, 37. Will KENNEDY.
Yellow Cards: Sena 45′ + 3′.
Red Cards: None.
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 20. Lawrence THOMAS, (GK)(C), 2. Gabriel CLEUR (17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO 65′), 4. Alexander BONETIG, 7. Zach SAPSFORD (27. James TEMELKOVSKI 77′), 14. Nicolas MILANOVIC, 18. Oscar PRIESTMAN, 19. Jack CLISBY, 22. Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 23. Bozhidar KRAEV (21. Aydan HAMMOND 90′ + 3′), 25. Josh BRILLANTE (6. Mohamed AL-TAAY), 26. Brandon BORELLO (9. Marcus ANTONSSON 66′).
Unused Subs: 3. Alex GERSBACH, 30. Jordan HOLMES (GK).
Yellow Cards: Borello 52′, Thomas 85′.
Red Cards: None
Venue: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Shaun Evans
Attendance: 32,741
