Sydney FC’s homecoming to Allianz Stadium hasn’t gone to plan as the ten-man Sky Blues lost 2-0 to goals in either half by the Wellington Phoenix.
Ufuk Talay’s men must look to re-group and get ready for a big trip to Melbourne Victory next week followed by the Sydney Derby back at Allianz Stadium on January 31st.
Sydney FC 0 def. by Wellington Phoenix 2 (Armiento 29’, Hughes 64’)
Moments That Mattered:
8’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – Armiento drills one from outside the area and a full length Devenish-Meares dive pushes it around the post.
26’ | QUINTAL CHANCE – Quintal pokes one towards goal and McCarron claws it off the line from behind him.
29’ | ARMIENTO GOAL – Armiento takes a left footed free-kick which deflects off the wall and leaves the goalkeeper wrong-footed to nestle in the back of the net.
43’ | YOULLEY RED CARD – A lunging tackle from Youlley catches Najjarine on the ankle and referee Sam Kelly produces the red card.
64’ | HUGHES GOAL – A chipped ball into the centre of the box is headed home by the unmarked Hughes.
65’ | HOLLMAN SHOT SAVED – A floated cross is headed down into the path of Hollman who shoots first time but James gets back to make a goal-line clearance.
90’+1’ | POPOVIC GOAL DISALLOWED – The defender prods the ball home from a centre into the box but the play is pulled back for an offside from the initial ball forward.
Match Report: Sydney FC’s return to Allianz Stadium has been soured by a 2-0 defeat to Wellington Phoenix having played half the game with ten-men.
A send off towards the end of the 1st half for the Sky Blues forced them down a man and made it a tough afternoon for the home side.
Sydney FC’s Devenish-Meares was the first keeper called into action when he dived full length to push an Armiento shot wide in the 8th minute.
His opposite number McCarron was the next to be called upon when he somehow managed to scoop a Quintal poke back from the goal-line to prevent a certain goal in 26 minutes.
Three minutes later the Phoenix were ahead when Armiento’s free-kick on the edge of the box deflects off Alex Grant’s head in the wall and drops into the corner, wrong-footing Devenish-Meares.
The Sky Blues task got harder just before half-time when they went down to 10 men. Young midfielder Rhys Youlley made a tackle on Ramy Najjarine which caught him late and the referee decided it was enough for a straight red card.
As the second half started Sydney FC began to put pressure on the Wellington goal despite having one less man, however the Phoenix were the ones who were able to double their lead midway through the half.
Rufer got the ball on the left of the box and lifted it into the centre where Hughes rose unmarked and flicked the ball into the back of the net to give them a 2-0 advantage.
Sydney FC were almost straight back in the game a minute later when Hollman’s shot looked certain to go in but James got back on the line to head clear.
The Sky Blues had a late goal chalked off in injury time for a clear offside and the game ended with a win for the visitors.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “Red cards always impact the game, you’re playing with one less player, but overall I thought we actually started the game well. We had a good opportunity with Tiago early that maybe we should score from and we didn’t.
“I think the challenge involving Tiago [for the free kick which led to their first goal] was a little bit harsh. He goes in strong, but he wins the ball and still gets the yellow card, which then turns into a deflected goal that we concede. Then obviously the red card makes life difficult.
“It’s a challenge that Rhys will learn from. He’s a young kid and I don’t think we need to make that challenge in that area of the pitch. It doesn’t matter whether you win the ball or not when you’re 60 metres from goal – it definitely hindered us.
“But in the second half I still thought we kept going. We created some good chances with 10 men and played most of the game in their half, looking for those transition moments. We just didn’t capitalise and didn’t score, and we walk away with a 2–0 loss.”
Sydney FC | 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES, 23. Rhyan GRANT (c), 32. Marcel TISSERAND (41. Alexandar POPOVIC 45’), 5. Alex GRANT (4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS 79’), 17. Ben GARRUCIO, 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 24. Paul OKON-ENGSTLER (33. Marin FRANCE 79’), 20. Tiago QUINTAL (6. Corey HOLLMAN 45’), 13. Patrick WOOD (44. Akol AKON 54’), 7. Piero QUISPE, 9. Victor CAMPUZANO
Unused Subs | 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (GK), 26. Niko ALFARO.
Head Coach | Ufuk TALAY
Yellow Cards | Quintal 27’, Talay 45’, Akon 60’, Popovic 86’.
Red Cards | Youlley 43’.
Wellington Phoenix 40. Eamonn MCCARRON (gk), 3. Corban PIPER (10. Nikola MILEUSNIC 76’), 4. Manjrekar JAMES, 6. Tim PAYNE (18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD 76’), 7. Ifeanyi EZE (8. Paulo RETRE 58’), 11. Carlo ARMIENTO (28. Bill TUILOMA 76’), 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 20. Ramy NAJJARINE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN.
Unused Subs | | 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE, 29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH.
Head Coach | Giancarlo ITALIANO
Yellow Cards | Rufer 45’.
Red Cards | None
Venue | Allianz Stadium
Referee | Sam Kelly
Attendance | 13,678
