Sydney FC have defeated Melbourne City 2-1 at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night as both sides returned to A-League action.
The Sky Blues were clinical in front of goal, claiming their first A-League win at their new home ground.
Over the break former City manager Patrick Kisnorbo departed AAMI Park for Troyes in Ligue 1 with Rado Vidosic the new man in charge in a caretaker capacity.
Playing in their third kit this evening, Sydney were looking to bounce back from two losses on the bounce prior to the FIFA World Cup break.
The Sky Blues almost made the perfect start with Patrick Wood intelligently turning his defender then hitting his strike against the post.
As always Joe Lolley looked dangerous coming on to his left boot from the right touchline, giving Scott Jamieson plenty of work to do.
Sydney’s early control began to fade as City gained the ascendancy, and before long Luke Brattan had handled in the area to Jamie Maclaren a huge chance to open the scoring.
Andrew Redmayne guessed correctly and even got a hand on the penalty but there was enough power behind the strike, Maclaren giving City an early 1-0 advantage.
The lead barely lasted a minute, however, with Joe Lolley tucking in the rebound after a goal-mouth scramble left Tom Glover exposed, and just like that it was all tied up again at 1-1.
Redmayne then made a series of excellent saves, including one from a powerful Maclaren strike that was headed for the top corner.
City were still exerting control but Sydney looked dangerous on the counter-attack with the pace of Lolley and Burgess causing a big threat.
The Sky Blues were inches away from a 2-1 lead after some excellent build-up play but the intervention of Jordan Bos on the goal line saved City.
It remained all square as the two sides headed for the dressing rooms.
Steve Corica didn’t take too long call on a substitute with Adam Le Fondre coming on for Patrick Wood in his return from injury.
And it proved to be an inspired change with Le Fondre the first to react after Glover could only parry a header into the Englishman’s path, giving Sydney a 2-1 lead.
Now chasing the game, City began to look somewhat bereft of ideas in attack.
Sydney continued their ascendancy, turning the screws on their opponents with some lightning quick transition play.
As Sydney sat deeper and deeper it only resulted in City controlling possession and getting closer to a late equaliser.
Substitute Marco Tilio went within inches of levelling the game again with a dashing solo run before unleashing a thunderous drive that beat Redmayne but ricocheted back off the crossbar.
Late on, Tom Glover was booked when he handled outside the area.
There was to be no comeback, and Sydney FC hung on for their first victory at the rebuilt Allianz Stadium.
Key Takeaways
Socceroos heroes return home
In a nice touch, the two sides’ returning Socceroos were honoured pre-game in a modest ceremony. Congratulations to Mathew Leckie, Marco Tilio, Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Redmayne for representing Australia on the world stage.
The national team players also stuck around post-game for a signing season with their adoring fans.
Leckie, of course, scored the winning goal against Denmark that sealed the Socceroos’ progression to the knockout stages.
The A-League is much disparaged, and realistically, is not close to a top league in the context of football’s global ecosystem. But sending so many current and former players to a team that advance past the group stage and weren’t embarrassed by Lionel Messi’s Argentina is a huge achievement.
Let’s hope by the time 2026 rolls around, the A-League is still producing world-class players who do us proud at the World Cup again.
If Rodwell stays fit, what impact can he have on Sydney?
One of Steve Corica’s big off-season signings, Jack Rodwell had yet to play a minute of competitive football for his new club prior to tonight. And in his first game back, he only manage 45 minutes before being replaced by Aaron Gurd.
In the Englishman’s absence, as well as that of captain Alex Wilkinson, James Donachie partnered rookie Gurd in the heart of defence and the combination never looked right, conceding some shambolic goals along the way.
Corica often spoke about the need to contextualise his side’s poor start to the 2022-23 campaign with their injuries and as we saw on Sky Blue: Inside Sydney FC, the Sky Blues legend has not been given a long leash this season. He’ll be hoping Rodwell can be a rock at the back because if Sydney are to have any shot at the title they will need to be much tighter at the back.
Can City continue Kisnorbo’s success?
Melbourne City had earned their reputation as perennial chokers before finally breaking through with the premiership-championship double in 2020-21. They backed that up with a second-straight regular season crown last season, and despite defeat at the hands of rivals Western United in the grand final, had managed to build a culture of success.
A lot of that culture was due to the work of the unscrupulous Patrick Kisnorbo. Fans got great insight into the character of the former Socceroos defender in an episode of A-Leagues All Access that showcased his detailed planning and genuine ability to motivate his charges, a relatively rare trait among A-League managers.
The question now becomes: is the foundation Kisnorbo built robust enough to carry City to more silverware, or will the new manager – whether it’s Rado Vidosic or someone else – need to imprint some of his own magic?
Image Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
