Sydney FC have defeated Central Coast Mariners 3-3 (3-1) after a lively Australia Cup Round of 32 tie ended in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
The game immediately sprung to life with action at both ends in the opening minutes, before the visitors got off to the best possible start.
Beni Nkololo found himself with space in Sydney’s 18-yard area, before getting past his defender and beating Socceroos hero Andrew Redmayne with a well-placed shot into the bottom corner.
The open play continued as the two sides traded chances. Central Coast continued their counter-attacking style, looking to release their pacy forwards at every opportunity.
Sydney were back on level terms before too long after Max Burgess was brought down in the penalty area by Daniel Hall, who received a yellow card for his efforts. Burgess used his pace to get in front of his man, before cunningly drawing contact from the Mariners defender.
Adam Le Fondre then dispatched the resulting spot-kick past Yaren Sozer.
The hosts started to gain the ascendancy, albeit without much end product, as Central Coast seemed content with surrendering the majority of possession and continuing to counter-attack.
The pressure eventually told.
A cross-field ball opened the Mariners defence up, and Anthony Caceres was given way too much time and space in the box.
The attacking midfielder kept his composure, finishing emphatically into the roof of the net to give Sydney a 2-1 advantage.
It stayed at 2-1 as the sides headed to the dressing room for their half-time address and the clouds above the inner-west venue began to look more and more ominous.
Sydney continued to control the tempo after emerging from the sheds.
It wasn’t long before the Sky Blues went further head.
Adrian Segecic was released on the left and the young forward then delivered a tantalising ball across the face of goal for Max Burgess to tap home at the back post for perhaps the easiest goal of his career.
The visitors almost immediately halved the margin, however, with Redmayne only able to parry a shot into the path of Michael Ruhs, who finished past the exposed goalkeeper.
In the 66th minute, Hall trailed Le Fondre getting to a long ball forward. As Le Fondre gained possession Hall arrived late and fouled the Englishman from behind, drawing a second yellow card from referee Tim Danaskos and reducing the Mariners to 10 men.
After the send-off it became even more difficult for Central Coast to get their foot on the ball with Sydney exerting more and more control over the fixture.
It looked to be all over until the Mariners silenced the 3000-strong Leichhardt Oval crowd and sent the game into extra time with the final play of injury time through who else but Jason Cummings with a header from a set-piece.
With both sides lacking match fitness the extra time period regressed into a poor standard of play. Central Coast were completely out on their feet, having been down a man for almost 60 minutes.
Sydney were able to fashion a few half-chances but lacked the killer instinct to finish off the game.
To penalties it went.
And it was another predictable hero stepping up at the crucial moment: Andrew Redmayne made one save as Central Coast missed three others, giving them no hope.
Sydney FC will learn their opponents for their Round of 16 match-up after the conclusion of Wednesday night’s Australia Cup fixtures.
Final score:
Sydney FC 3
Central Coast Mariners 3
Sydney FC win 3-1 on penalties
Crowd: 3061 at Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Corica shows tactical flexibility… sort of
The official teamsheet showed Sydney lining up in a 4-3-3 formation, and the players mostly stuck to that shape throughout the game.
While this signifies at least some flexibility from the Sydney boss, it’s hardly a revolutionary change from the 4-2-2-2 system that has become Sydney’s identity in recent seasons.
Corica has been criticised for his rigid system in the past, and with his job almost certainly on the line in the upcoming A-League Men campaign, it is difficult to imagine now is the time he will make a bold change.
Despite the loss of Bobo, Corica still has Patrick Wood and veteran No.9 Adam Le Fondre as options up front, as well as youngsters Adrian Segecic and Jaiden Kucharski, who are both in line to receive minutes off the bench and perhaps even make a push for a place in the starting 11.
With the arrival of Diego Cabello the back four looks settled, and the Sky Blues Squad is also replete with midfielders who can specialise in their role or cover both the defensive and attacking midfield spots.
That said, there will definitely be new blood added to the squad before the A-League season kicks off.
Mariners need signings
That heading could easily read ‘Sydney need signings’, but let’s focus on Central Coast for now.
It’s still approximately two months until the Mariners begin their 2022-23 A-League Men campaign with an F3 Derby at Central Coast Stadium on October 8, so it’s not quite time to panic yet.
However, as it stands, Nick Montgomery’s squad is looking extremely bare. There’s a genuine dearth of A-League-quality players, let alone star power or X-factor.
The exuberance and skill of players like Nkololo will only take them so far.
Sure, they still boast Jason Cummings, who will lead the line for the Gosford-based side, but with important players Cy Goddard and Marco Urena (an underrated No.9 whose goal tally never told the full story) released within the past week, Montgomery will need to get busy in the transfer market sooner rather than later.
Sydney continue strong Cup form
Apart from their return to the shiny new Allianz Stadium, there may be little for Sky Blues fans to look forward to in the upcoming league campaign.
Pressure is certainly on manager Steve Corica to turn the glamour club’s fortunes around.
With that in mind, matching or bettering their run to the semi-finals of the 2021-22 Australia Cup, where they coincidentally fell to today’s opponents, could be a bright spot in what is otherwise shaping up to quite possibly be another troubled campaign for Sydney.
The Sky Blues boast an enviable record in this competition, with three straight finals appearances from 2016 to 2018. They claimed their first, and only Australia Cup in 2017 with a 2-1 triumph over Adelaide United in the final at the old Allianz Stadium.
