Goals from Joe Lolley and Adam Le Fondre were enough for Sydney FC to defeat the Central Coast Mariners 3-2 at Allianz Stadium.
A close-range finish from the ex-Nottingham Forest winger sandwiched in between Le Fondre’s brace gave Sydney FC just their second home win all season. Jason Cummings scored twice for Central Coast in a losing effort.
In what was an entertaining affair, Rhyan Grant and Brian Kaltack were both sent off in a frantic first half.
For the away side it’s two losses in three games, a worrying form slump as we inch closer to the pointy end of the campaign.
Returning to Moore Park for the first time in almost a month, the onus was on Sydney to take the game to Nick Montgomery’s men. They managed to do so, controlling possession early on and fashioning a few half-chances.
The Sky Blues would open the scoring in the 10th minute, after a deflected shot fell perfectly to Adam Le Fondre who made no mistake, cooly finishing past Danny Vukovic.
While not completely dominating, it was a slice of luck that the home side had probably earned.
Marco Tulio then went close for the Mariners after some good work from Jason Cummings.
But Sydney’s lead wouldn’t last long. With Marco Tulio bearing down on goal, Rhyan Grant brought the Brazilian down in the penalty area. After a VAR check, Grant’s booking was upgraded to a red card.
Cummings stepped up and unleashed a powerful strike from the spot that thundered off the crossbar and bounced over the line to level the scores.
In another twist, with Max Burgess running on to a through-ball Brian Kaltack lunged out, missing the ball completely and taking down the Sydney midfielder right on the edge of the area. Without much hesitation, Ben Abraham took out the red card, making it a 10-a-side.
Just eight minutes later the visitors would get themselves in front as Cummings doubled his money with a good finish from about 10 yards out.
Only 33 minutes had elapsed but there had already been plenty of excitement in Moore Park, with three goals and two red cards.
As Abraham blew for half-time it was a chance for both sides to catch a breath and for the managers to ponder potential substitutions.
Just minutes after the restart Tulio had a golden chance to double his side’s advantage after Redmayne could only parry a shot, but the Brazilian got his body shape all wrong and couldn’t convert.
Central Coast were making the most of the extra space available, stretching the Sydney defence multiple times.
Cummings then had a go from outside the area, his strike just flying over Redmayne’s crossbar.
Against the run of play, Joe Lolley got Sydney back on level terms with a simple finish from Diego Caballo’s quality ball in. With just over 30 minutes to play it was set up for a grandstand finish. The momentum had swung around, now behind the home side.
With both sides trading half-chances, it felt like it was going to take a moment of quality to break the game open. Enter Le Fondre, finishing off Paulo Retre’s quality cross and doubling his tally for the afternoon to restore Sydney’s one-goal advantage.
Final score:
Sydney FC 3 (Le Fondre 10′, 72′, Lolley 58′)
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Cummings 20′, 33′)
Key Takeaways
If Yazbek is available, why not use him?
Congratulations to young midfielder Patrick Yazbek, who has earned a move to Norwegian top-flight side Viking. The 20-year-old has showed plenty of promise in the Sky Blues engine room with some earmarking him as a future Socceroo.
There’s an argument to be made that Corica is still looking for his ideal midfield combination more than halfway through the campaign. But with Yazbek still at Corica’s disposal, surely it’s worth playing him. There’s a reason he’s been plucked from the other side of the world to play European football.
Will contentious red cards be overturned?
The red cards issued to Grant and Kaltack were met with surprise from fans in the ground and over social media.
The Match Review Panel will have two interesting cases to look at, as both clubs will surely appeal Abraham’s respective decisions. There’s certainly more evidence that could condemn Grant, with Tulio in a more dangerous position when felled by the Sky Blues right-back, but we will wait and see what eventuates.
Sydney finally claim second win at Allianz Stadium
It’s been a tough campaign for Steve Corica’s side, and that has been nowhere more evident than in their form at Allianz Stadium. Coming into today, from six contests Sydney had suffered four defeats, and only secured one victory, over ladder-leaders Melbourne City back in December. After today’s victory, their win rate at home now stands at a slightly more acceptable 28 per cent.
It’s another crucial three points for the Sky Blues after an important Big Blue triumph at AAMI Park last week. Corica’s attention will now turn to a huge Sydney Derby next Saturday evening at CommBank Stadium as Sydney look to establish themselves in the top six with a third straight win.
Image credit: Brendan Thorne/Getty Images
