The latest edition of the Big Blue demonstrated why this classic A-League encounter could easily be renamed the ‘Bad Blood’ derby. David Carney’s stunning equaliser added spice to a tetchy contest in Melbourne.
It’s no secret that Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC don’t get along. Throw in some poor recent form, a packed fixture schedule and Perth Glory breathing down their necks, and the stage was set for war.
The first half illustrated exactly why the two clubs were fighting to stay in the top 6 rather than compete for top honours. A 13th minute free kick from Gui Finkler threatened to break the game open when a foul by Faty and O’Neil brought Berisha down just outside the area.
The remaining half an hour left a lot to be desired from a football point of view, dissolving into a ruckus with numerous fouls, stray elbows, cards, verbal taunts and all-around tension. Matt Simon left with a rib injury after 20 minutes, and instead of replacing like-for-like with Shane Smeltz, Arnold packed the midfield, bringing on Milos Dimitrijevic.
Barbarouses was incredibly lucky to avoid a red card, let alone a caution in the 23rd minute when he left a foot in on Ninkovic, causing tensions to boil over when Brosque laid a crude tackle on Broxham in response.
Kris Griffiths-Jones then became enemy number one for Graham Arnold when another stray elbow, this time from Rashid Mahazi, caught Seb Ryall on the nose.
True-to-form, Berisha then embroiled himself in a fiery argument against Janjetovic when Faty dangled a hand in his face. Just before the break, Finkler then attempted to put Barbarouses on goal, but the Kiwi ran slightly offside.
The second half began, and with less than a minute gone, Kosta Barbarouses did what he does best, beating the offside trap, Rhyan Grant and the near post to slot in.
The goal forced Sydney to actually start playing some football. On another day David Carney might have been awarded a penalty when Ben Khalfallah dropped his shoulder in the winger in the 49th minute.
Finkler missed from close range when a corner was crossed back into the box; his was a tame header that went straight at the keeper. Then in the 63rd minute, Jacques Faty dawdled on the ball before Besart Berisha was held back running in on goal. The call was 50-50 but even Sky Blues fans couldn’t argue that his dismissal wasn’t warranted.
All of a sudden, with the game seemingly dead and buried for the hosts, David Carney picked up the ball 40 yards out and dribbled Deng into submission, smashing the ball into the net to somehow level the game at 1-1.
Sydney showed a lot of character down to 10 men, putting on a great 5-minute spell to almost snatch the lead, but a last ditch tackle from Matt Jurman on Daniel Georgievski saved the visitors a point. The 1-1 draw fails to satisfy either team yet Sydney will enjoy the point far more playing with a man less for half an hour.
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FT | All square in the end as Carney's strike ensures we take a share of the points. #SydneyIsSkyBlue #BigBlue pic.twitter.com/RiST8HfKqE
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) 27 February 2016
