Sydney FC have demolished Central Coast Mariners 4–1 at Allianz Stadium, with Al Hassan Toure scoring his second hat-trick for the Sky Blues and Gabriel Popovic netting his maiden Sydney FC goal to lift the home side into second place on the A-League ladder, for now.
Sydney FC 4 (Toure 30’ pen, 42’, 51’, Popovic 85’) def. Central Coast Mariners 1 (Lavale 90’ pen)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
3’ | GRANT HITS THE BAR – Sydney FC surge forward in numbers as Toure flicks the ball into the penalty area for Sunday. A scramble sees the ball fall to the onrushing Grant, who smashes his effort against the crossbar before the Mariners clear.
10’ | DEVENISH-MEARES DENIES LAVALE – Sydney FC lose possession playing out from the back and Brandtman squares for Lavale, but Devenish-Meares rushes out to block his close-range effort.
12’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVES AGAIN – Another turnover at the back allows a cross to the unmarked De Lima at the far post, but his volley is straight at the well-positioned Sydney goalkeeper, who saves before the Sky Blues clear.
30’ | TOURE PUTS SYDNEY AHEAD – Toure sends Redmayne the wrong way from the penalty spot after referee Keevers penalises McCann for handball following a Sydney FC corner.
42’ | TOURE DOUBLES THE LEAD – Devenish-Meares punches clear a Mariners corner and Toure races from the edge of his own box into attack. He squares for Akon, whose return ball across goal leaves Toure a simple tap-in at the far post to make it 2–0.
51’ | TOURE COMPLETES HAT-TRICK – Sekine flicks possession on to Sunday, who drives forward from inside his own half and threads Toure through. The striker races clear, takes a touch into the box and fires beyond Redmayne for his third.
60’ | REDMAYNE DENIES AKON – Substitute Quintal surges forward and releases Akon, who cuts onto his left foot inside the box and curls a fierce effort towards goal, but Redmayne parries clear.
61’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVES – The Sky Blues keeper reacts instinctively to flick an arm above his head and save a far-post Auglah volley from a left wing cross.
74’ | QUINTAL GOAL RULED OUT – Sunday nudges a loose ball to Quintal at the edge of the six-yard box and the substitute finishes first time past Redmayne, but VAR confirms a marginal offside.
85’ | POPOVIC MAKES IT FOUR – Lacey wins possession in midfield and finds Quintal, who feeds Popovic. The substitute unleashes a left-footed strike into the bottom-left corner to extend Sydney FC’s lead to 4–0.
90’ | MARINERS PULL ONE BACK – Gordon is brought down by Garuccio in the Sydney penalty area and referee Keevers awards a spot-kick. Lavale steps up to convert, reducing the deficit to 4–1.
MATCH REPORT
Sydney FC produced a clinical counter-attacking display to defeat Central Coast Mariners 4–1 at Allianz Stadium, with Socceroo Al Hassan Toure scoring a superb hat-trick and substitute Gabriel Popovic adding a late fourth.
The Sky Blues made an energetic start to a frantic contest, with both teams pressing high and looking to attack quickly. Sydney almost struck in the third minute when captain Grant met a loose ball in the box and rattled the crossbar.
The Mariners threatened at the other end after two Sydney turnovers, but Devenish-Meares reacted superbly to deny Lavale in the tenth minute before saving De Lima’s far-post volley two minutes later.
Sydney broke the deadlock on the half-hour when a handball by McCann from a corner brought a penalty, and Toure confidently sent former Sky Blue goalkeeper Redmayne the wrong way.
Toure’s second was a superb team counter-attack. Devenish-Meares punched clear a Mariners corner, Toure surged from the edge of his own box and combined with Akon before tapping the return pass in at the far post to give Sydney a 2–0 half-time lead.
Six minutes after the restart, the Socceroo completed his hat-trick. Sunday carried the ball forward after a Sekine flick and released Toure behind the defence, where the forward took a touch and drove past Redmayne for 3–0.
Sydney continued to create opportunities, with Redmayne denying Akon and Quintal having a close-range finish ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
The Sky Blues’ substitutes made their mark in the closing stages as Lacey won the ball in midfield and found Quintal, who fed Popovic to hammer a left-footed effort into the bottom corner in the 85th minute.
Lavale converted a 90th-minute penalty after Gordon was brought down in the area, but it proved only a consolation as Sydney secured an impressive three points in front of their home supporters.
WHAT THEY SAID: Patrick Kisnorbo
“Great win, some great goals, but we could do a lot better, I think. We need to improve in everything,” Kisnorbo said.
“It’s a reward for a long and hard pre-season for him [Toure]. He’s been great and gets rewarded for all the hard work, but he knows he needs to keep continuing to work hard and keep pushing.
“We’ve rebuilt his body and the way he does things this pre-season. He can see the rewards, but he needs to do more, and he knows he can do more. We’ll have to keep pushing him.
“A moment like that [the second goal], we have been working on a lot in pre-season and in training. Today you see the fruits of the labour, I suppose, but we can do more and we need to keep improving.”
LINEUPS | SYDNEY FC
Starting XI | 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS, 7. Akol AKON (2. James OVERY 83’), 8. Wataru KAMIJO (29. Joe LACEY 72’), 9. Oriola SUNDAY (16. Gabriel POPOVIC 83’), 14. Takahiro SEKINE (22. Mathias MACALLISTER 83’), 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 23. Rhyan GRANT (Captain), 35. Al Hassan TOURE (20. Tiago QUINTAL 59’), 36. Rhys YOULLEY, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC.
Unused Substitutes | 1. Gus HOEFSLOOT (GK), 5. Jacob FARRELL.
Yellow Cards | 29. Joe LACEY (77’)
Red Cards | None
Head Coach | Patrick KISNORBO
LINEUPS | CENTRAL COAST MARINERS
Starting XI | 30. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 3. Diesel HERRINGTON, 5. Lucas MAURAGIS, 6. Haine EAMES (45. Jesse MANTELL 77’), 8. Chris DONNELL (Captain) (39. Alex BOLTON 89’), 9. Oliver LAVALE, 12. Noah MCCANN, 15. Storm ROUX, 22. Arthur DE LIMA (11. John-Kymani GORDON 59’), 37. Bailey BRANDTMAN (17. Presley ORTIZ 60’), 72. Ali AUGHLAH (52. Isaac KWON 77’).
Unused Substitutes | 41. Shumba MUTOKOYI, 51. Ty MCKIBBIN, 50. Jai AJANOVIC (GK).
Yellow Cards | 8. Chris DONNELL (1’)
Red Cards | None
Head Coach | John HUTCHINSON
MATCH OFFICIALS / VENUE
Referee | Lachlan KEEVERS
Venue | Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off | 7:40pm AEDT
