A battling Sydney FC have lost 4-2 to the Perth Glory in their opening National Youth League fixture.
A battling Sydney FC have lost 4-2 to the Perth Glory in their opening National Youth League fixture.
After taking an early lead through Alec Urosevski, Sydney conceded three goals in 15 minutes before half time. The Sky Blues reduced the deficit in the second half with sublime free kick from Peter Triantis but Perth secured the points with a fourth late in the game.
The match started under bright sun at ANZ Stadium, and there were plenty of chances in an open and free flowing encounter.
Perth began the stronger side, with Jesse Makarounas at the centre of all things good for the Glory. Twice in the first ten minutes he managed to find centre forward Makeche in the Sydney penalty area, only for Sydney FC goalkeeper Ryan Norval to clear strongly.
After dealing well with the early pressure the home side started to find their rhythm. Josh MacDonald embarked on a mazy run down the right wing which caused the Perth defence to scramble.
Sydney took the lead through Alec Urosevski in the 17th minute. The striker picked the ball up at the top of the box, and slipped between two Perth defenders before slotting the ball into the top left corner.
Perth responded strongly and nearly equalised straight away. Makarounas tried but wasn-t able to get on the end of a floated cross from Kala.
The equaliser did arrive shortly after on 21 minutes. Makarounas controlled a ball from the right wing, and rolled the ball into the path of Adrian Zahra who rifled a finish from 5 yards out.
The game was a high tempo affair and Perth took the lead on 28 minutes. From a set piece outside the box the ball found its way to O-Neill volleyed home with the aid of a deflection.
Soon after Perth extended their lead. Sydney cleared a corner out to Davies who fired back over a cross that Norval could only parry into his net.
Coach Brian Dene made a change at half time with Zachary Nicolis replacing Lukas Stergiou at left back.
Dene-s half time speech also hit a nerve with the youngsters in Sky Blue rallying hard after the break.
They got their reward on 51 minutes, when Peter Triantis hit a superb free kick to halve the deficit. Tireless midfielder Hagi Gligor made a terrific run only to be taken down just outside the box. Triantis then stepped up and curled a superb effort into the top left hand corner.
By this stage the Sky Blues were mounting attack after attack, with Urosevski hitting the side netting with a 25 yard thunderbolt.
After staving off the Sydney pressure, Perth then had a strong spell which sealed the result. Makarounas picked up the ball on half way and hit a perfect defence splitting pass which O-Brien coolly finished.
Perth Glory 4 (Zahra 21, O-Neill 28, Davies 36, O-Brien 79) d. Sydney FC 2 (Alec Urosevski 17, Peter Trianits 51)
Sydney FC: 1. Ryan Norval ©, 2. Keifer Dotti 3. Aaron Calver, 4. Roberto Speranza (17. Theo Kofinas), 6. Hagi Gligor, 7. Joshua MacDonald, 8. Peter Triantis, 11. Tom Slater (14. Tony Lo), 11. Christopher Naumoff, 12. Lukas Stergiou (18. Zachary Nicolis), 16 Alec Urosevski.
Subs not used: 20. Anthony Bouzanis (gk).
