Sydney FC 1 Macarthur FC 2
Ufuk Talay’s entertainers did just that at Allianz Stadium today, Sydney FC returning home for the first time this season to thrill their fans; alas it wasn’t enough to secure an unlikely win, and instead Macarthur FC snuck off with the three points with a last-gasp winner. Only the glass half-empty souls in the crowd would have bemoaned the desire the home team showed to win it in the closing stages, and the stadium was left in a state of disbelief at the final whistle as a heart-stopping last five minutes boiled over. What an A-League game, superb stuff!
An odd 6pm Sunday evening kick-off, thanks to Sydney’s Asian Champions League Two participation, saw us spoilt for choice for a venue for a late lunch, early dinner. We opted for a trip down memory lane and El Loco on Foveaux Street on the old pre-tram route up to the stadium from Central Station. Great choice, and we were well fuelled up for the game and had plenty of time to make it up the steep hill to Moore Park.
There were ten minutes to go before kick off, the players had emerged, but there was a remembrance day acknowledgement prior to the game and the oldest living founding member (92!) was given a moment in the sun for the first home game of the 20th season. We were all in place by kick off, and an intriguing A-League encounter kicked off with Macarthur FC shooting towards the Cove, major pest Valere Germain ready to annoy our defence with his silky skills.
Patryck Klimala had the ball in the net afer five minutes up at the other end, but an offside flag curtailed the celebrations. Andrew Redmayne made an unorthodox save to push away a header from Sydney reject Kealey Adamson afer it had hit the post. There is no way he would have been able to do that if he had meant it, and the Sky Blues were living dangerously. Marin Jakolis was having an off day, dwelling too long on the ball after Germain had played him in, Rhyan Grant coming to the rescue, and he missed another gilt-edged chance soon after as the visitors looked the brightest.
New Socceroo Hayden Matthews thought he’d got away with a meaty challenge on the sideline during a Macarthur break, but Sydney-hating referee Casey Reibelt was not forgetting the challenge and gave him a yellow. Leo Sena was fortunate to stay on the field after crunching his man and then staying on the floor to seek pity, and just as it looked as though Sydney FC had weathered heavy bombardment to make it to half-time, Matthews took out his man and quite rightly was shown a second yellow. This would be one hell of a battle in the second half and the whistle was met with plenty of booing.
Being down to ten men didn’t faze the home team one bit, and despite leaving their already leaky defence wide open, they took the game to Macarthur. Alex Popovic wasn’t having the best game, giving the ball away on a couple of occasions, but he scrapped well to force the ball behind when the visitors struck on the counter attack. The sucker punch came though when Ivan Vujica found acres of space on the left to measure a cross, but no one could have predicted what came next as Ariath Piol leapt into the air to bicycle the ball into the corner of the net with Redders a spectator. What a goal! It was up the other end, but we were right behind it, and it was superb athleticism from the forgotten man of Macarthur.
A goal down, Sydney continued to press, and some puzzling subs saw Klimala replaced as he was getting treated for a head wound, along with superstars Anas Ouahim and Leo Sena, to be replaced by a trio of youthful players. Gentleman thug Tommy Uskok finally got a yellow after escaping one in the first half – which bizarrely ended in a fist-pump with the referee, up on the big screen, that had the crowd fizzing with rage. What the actual fuck was that?
Sydney’s pressure mounted, while they left the back door totally unlocked, and they finally hit the jackpot when a fee kick was floated in and a mass of legs saw Paddy Wood connect and somehow turn the ball in. Game on! This would normally be the cue to sit back and waste time, but this is a different Sydney FC to the one we’ve known before. They went for the jugular. Tiago Quintal showed outrageous feet, Anthony Caceres danced into the box and flashed a cross in that no one could connect with, but ultimately a hopeful pass from Quintal on the break was our downfall, a booming clearance finding Germain who ran at the penalty area, with Grant (or was it Joel King?) unsure of how to play it as the final defender, and his ball across to Jakolis was perfect for the cool finish at the far post. The striker had, up to that point, had a stinker, but he ran off into the corner, the remaining Macarthur fans racing through the empty seats of the away end to celebrate in the corner.
Hands were on heads, there were seconds remaining and Sydney almost fashioned a final chance straight from the kick-off, but it was all too late. A damning defeat in a game that could and did go either way. There was minimal dissent at the way we lost – to go down fighting was the absolute right thing to do, and we nearly got all the three points. Alas, if this dropped point makes a difference at the end of the season it will surely be frowned upon!
The Sky Blue players all came to applaud the home fans and were joined by Luke Brattan, meeting up with old friends from the crowd, despite not being able to bring his kids onto the field. The mood was not befitting of a game where the home side had conceded a last minute goal to lose; every fan was proud of the way the players had battled, and the glimpses of Quintal were enough to whet the appetite for the next appearance of the talented youngster.
The cancellation of the light rail, which we hadn’t even realised earlier in the day, meant that a bus was the best option, and a quick changeover at Central had us back in the North Western suburbs around 9:30pm. A superb evening in Sydney, a tough result to take after such a spirited revival, and Adrian Segecic must be spewing after being sacrificed for Joel King after Matthews’ red card. A lot for the new Socceroos centre-back to digest, and that will rule him out for the Unite Round against the Westies. Special mention for the referee, already well-known for dishing out cards to Sydney women players, and that fist-pump will live long in the memory of the home fans. We look forward to the explanation. See you next week at Leichhardt Oval. Fire up, Sydney!
