Sydney FC 4 Macarthur FC 0
The Sydney conspiracy was in full swing on Saturday night as Macarthur FC fell foul once again to the spectre of the dreaded VAR. Playing against a ten-man Bulls is nothing new, and indeed last time these two teams met, the Sky Blues were hapless in finding a way through the remaining men on the field. This time though there was no question which team was going to advance to the semi-final stage and the boys from Campbelltown were well and truly dispatched. The guilt of missing the women’s Grand Final, a victim of utterly comical scheduling, was replaced by renewed optimism despite two of our stars ending up on the bench with injury.
It was right up to Friday night that my finger hovered over the Book button to follow the girls down to Melbourne on a very expensive day trip; with the weather cancelling all club football on Saturday afternoon it was certainly tempting, but the original plan was followed, a father-daughter date at the football with the rest of our gang elsewhere for the night. No pre-game, we ran for the 6.15pm train and with a swift changeover at Central to the Light Rail we were at Allianz Stadium well ahead of kick off. The precinct was busy, there were lines at the box office, this could be a big crowd.
Alas no. Aside from the Cove, bay 23 perfectly square like a Polish third-division ultras bay, the rest of the stadium was very quiet, and not even the appearance of the players and the fancy fireworks could tease any more fans out from the bowels of the stadium. The queue for a beer looked fierce despite the low attendance, and we made our way up to Cove Heights, this time seated nearer the front overlooking the Cove, who were in fine form already. Banners were up berating the APL and there was a banner about tifos but we couldn’t read it. The atmosphere at our end was marvellous, and we looked forward to a cracking game.
It wasn’t long before Sydney took the lead up the other end. Robbie Mak ran on to a ball from Anthony Caceres and the defence seemed to part to let him continue into the box. He didn’t seem at all comfortable on his left foot, but steered the ball effortlessly past Filip Kurto for 1-0. What a start! Any nerves about playing Macarthur, who had beaten Sydney FC with only nine men down in Campbelltown only a couple of weeks prior, had completely gone.
The complexion of the game changed midway through the half when VAR got involved to spoil the fixture as a contest. Luke Brattan had run out of ideas but picked out a dynamic cross-field run from Jordan Courtney-Perkins. He went to ground as the ball hit his chest, former Sydney starlet Kealey Adamson having tracked him and been caught out by the Sydney man reaching to control the ball. Our top-class World Cup referee Ali Faghani decided that it was a penalty, which seemed very harsh. We would have been more than happy with that, but no, in stepped VAR to rule that the foul was outside the area. The referee, with the added shame of having to explain the uncomfortable decision from the VAR bunker to the waiting crowd, then walked over to Adamson and apologetically showed him a red card. The Sydney players consoled him. What a load of shit. That was not DOGSO – this was Courtney-Perkins trying to control a high ball on the edge of the area. He was hardly running in on goal. Had I not been a Sydney fan it would have been infuriating; instead I was happy to wave off agent Adamson for a job well done.
From memory the free kick hit the wall and was ballooned over from the rebound. All that waiting for that!
As was the case down at Macarthur two weeks ago, Sydney struggled with the advantage. Not to contain the visitors, but they seemed intent on getting to half time before changing their tactics. The pedestrian passing started and we feared the worst, especially when danger man Clayton Lewis found himself in an acre of space on the left to tee up serial moaner Valere Germain for what should have been an equaliser, right in front of us. Somehow he put it wide from a few yards out and we could breathe again when the half time whistle sounded.
We had a walk right around the stadium concourse at half-time. Lots of space. The away end was sparsely populated too, but at least there was a presence, and the sight of the Macarthur fans on the big screen elicited boos and jeers from the Sydney crowd. We were back in our spots just before the second half after walking past the enornmous queue for an ice-cream and we prayed that Ufuk Talay had changed things up.
Yes, Maxi was on. The Cove sang We Are Champions in honour of the Sydney FC women’s team who had conquered Melbourne City earlier in the day, a nice touch. A goal came soon after and it was an absolute belter. Courtney-Perkins had found himself on completely the other side of the field again and laid the ball back to Joe Lolley. There seemed little danger as he advanced, until he simply let fly from 25 yards and the ball arrowed into the corner of the net off the post for a quite remarkable goal. We were up punching the air. What a strike! Alas that was his last touch as he went down soon after with an injury in the middle of the park, and he seemed upset with himself as he left the field with his head bowed.
This was one-way traffic now. The Cove were in great form. A comedy moment from some young punks in the front row of Cove Heights – one of them went to the bar to get a cup of water with the idea of throwing it down over the Cove in celebration. Only he got the trajectory wrong and threw it straight up and all over himself as we sat giggling to ourselves.
Lolley’s replacement Jaiden Kucharski then had us 3-0 up, a sweet finish past Kurto with the defence opening up for him, then we had some goalmouth action at the other end. Germain was left all alone at the far post as a cross came in from the left, he controlled and fired in a shot that Andrew Redmayne saved, and the follow-up from the young striker was headed off the line by Jack Rodwell. Perhaps the game wasn’t dead yet.
But then it was. Maxi Burgess teased the defence on the right and played an immaculate ball across the goal for Mak to peel away and tap home at the far post, a peculiar celebration seeing the home fans go crazy once again. It was good to see the Lolo chant for a change, debris launched in the air in delight in the Cove, and the party was underway, even when Luke Brattan was forced off injured and Paddy Wood came on for a return to action. The final whistle was a strange one. The players were tentative about coming to the home end, but eventually did, climbing over the advertising hoardings. It wasn’t a feverish celebration at qualifying for the semi-finals, but quite a subdued feel, like Man United winning a penalty shoot out against Coventry City. A quick S.F.C. chant got the blood pumping again though, the extended mix giving us the second part of the chant too which everyone loves.
Sydney FC had won convincingly. We made our way out, taking the interior route to the exit to stay out of the rain, but it wasn’t that bad when we got out into the open. The crowds at the light rail do look discouraging when you arrive there, but they’re gone in a couple of minutes, everyone getting a spot on the tram, and we were back in the suburbs by 11pm and ready to take in the EPL games. This had been a quick in-and-out, no beers, no march, no food en route, and that suited the horrible weather we were having – just get us home!
We’re back again this weekend, Friday night at Allianz for the first leg of the semi-finals against an incredibly successful Central Coast Mariners team. Joe Lolley is out. Hopefully Maxi is in. The visitors will be a tough team to crack, but the following weekend it’s Central Coast away on the Saturday night, and that promises to be the game that stops a nation. Come on Sydney! Let’s gooooo!