A youthful Sydney FC has beaten Filipino side Kaya Iloilo FC 3-1 in their final AFC Champions League 2 group clash thanks to goals from Adrian Segecic, Patrick Wood and Jaiden Kucharski at Jubilee Stadium.
Sydney FC 3 (Segecic 38’, Wood 45’+1’, Kucharski 76’) def. Kaya Iloilo FC 1 (Mendy 85’) 1
Moments That Mattered
19’ | KUCHARSKI HITS THE BAR – Quintal drives forward and feeds Kucharski who nudges the ball onto his left foot and grazes the bar with a shot.
38’ | SEGECIC GOAL – A short corner to Kamijo who feeds Segecic inside the box, he takes a shot which is blocked but buries the rebound.
45’ + 1’ | WOOD GOAL – Kamijo wins the ball twice in the midfield and slides a first time ball to Wood to go clear and coolly finish.
48’ | QUINTAL FIRES OVER – Kucharski wins the ball with a high press and it falls to Wood whose shot is parried by the keeper into the path of Quintal, but the youngster shoots over from close range.
60’ | DEVENISH-MEARES SAVE – The keeper makes a smart, quick save to his left as Komaki flashes a shot to his near post.
76’ | KUCHARSKI GOAL – France flicks the ball forward and Kucharski hits it first time with his left foot from outside of the box into the far corner.
85’ | MENDY GOAL – A left wing run and cross is slid home by Lopez Mendy seconds after coming on.
What They Said: Ufuk Talay: “I’m very proud of the group, as a club the Academy plays a massive role in producing players and I was very pleased they were able to take the information on board and execute it.
“It shows what they are doing down below with the young boys is paying off and I’m very pleased with they way they handled themselves.
“I think Tiago had a good game at times, I think JK had a good game, Tyler coming on at the back, I thought he found some very good passes.
“Nick Alfaro our young boy coming on as a six looked very comfortable playing alongside Sega and I thought it was consistent of the whole team.”
Player Of The Match Adrian Segecic: “For us to score in the first half was big to settle the nerves of the young boys and I think helped the team out.
“It was massive to wear the captain’s armband and you never forget these moments. To be at a massive club like this and to be young and to lead the team out is massive for me.
“I think we can go all the way with the depth and quality that we have and the way we have been playing lately.”
Match Report: Sydney FC has defeated Filipino Champions Kaya Iloilo FC 3-1 in their final AFC Champions League 2 group stage clash, with a youthful squad featuring 18 players who have come through the Sky Blues youth system.
A quiet opening period burst into life just before half time when a well worked corner fell to Segecic whose first shot was blocked, but he made no mistake from the follow-up.
It was two on the stroke of half time when debutant Wataru Kamijo twice won the ball in midfield and played a threaded ball through for Wood to go clear and finish.
Quintal smashed a shot over early in the second half and the Sky Blues were thankful for Devenish-Meares who made a good save on the hour mark to keep Kaya at bay.
Kucharski put the game beyond doubt on 76 minutes when he finished first time from Marin France’s through ball.
Kaya pulled one back late in a game which was notable for Hayden Matthews and Adrian Segecic both wearing the captain’s armband and debuts for Wataru Kamijo and Tyler Williams.
Sydney FC march onto the last 16 of the competition and will discover who they face in the draw next Thursday 12th December.
Sydney FC: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES, 5. Hayden MATTHEWS © (34. Tyler WILLIAMS 45’), 7. Adrian SEGECIC, 13. Pat WOOD (19. Mitch GLASSON 78’), 16. Joel KING, 20. Tiago QUINTAL, 21. Zac DE JESUS, 24. Wataru KAMIJO (32. Nikolas ALFARO 62’), 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI, 28. Nathan AMANTIDIS (33. Marin FRANCE 61’), 41. Alex POPOVIC (3. Aaron GURD 45’).
Unused Subs: 30. Gus HOEFSLOOT (GK), 22. Max BURGESS, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 29. Joe LACEY, 35. Jay MALTZ.
Yellow Cards: None.
Red Cards: None
Kaya Iloilo FC: 40. Patrick DEYTO (GK), 3. Akito SAITO, 7. Jovin BEDIC (30. Lucas GABRIEL ROSARIO 45’), 10. Daizo HORIKOSHI, 13. Jesus MELLIZA (77. Geri MARTINI REY 61’), 14. Shuto KOMAKI (17. Robert LOPEZ MENDY, 83’), 15. Marco CASAMBRE, 20. Park YIYOUNG, 25. Eric ESSO (8. Marwin ANGELES 70’), 44. Audie MENZI (C) (22. Fitch ARBOLEDA 70’), 88. Kaishu YAMAZAKI.
Subs: 1 Walid ESSAFI (GK), 6. Mark SWAINSTON, 12. Vincent DIANO, 23. Simone ROTA.
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Venue: Jubilee Stadium
Referee: Tejan NAGVENKAR (India)
