Sydney FC welcomed cross town-rivals to Allianz in what was anticipated to be the clash of the round. However, the match was anything but memorable.
Sydney never settled into the game and lacked any real sense of a forward threat for large parts of the game.
By contrast, the Wanderers pleasantly surprised by creating the bulk of the game’s chances, the best of which occurred on the stroke of halftime.
A deft header from youngster Jaushua Sotirio sailed over Vederan Janjetovic, only to be called back for offside. Replays showed the boys in red and black were extremely unlucky.
A multitude of turnovers in the midfield meant that neither side were able to fully grab the ascendancy and while they hardly deserved a goal, the Sky Blues got one in the 88th minute. Milos Ninkovic was on the end of a Brandon O’Neill pass and expertly finished to send the Cove into raptures.
Tackles, tackles, tackles
In true derby fashion, the tackles were coming in thick and fast from both sides on Saturday night. Brandon O’Neill got the ball rolling early in the first-half when he flattened a marauding Scott Jamieson. Milos Dimitrejivic soon earned the first booking of the evening after a rash challenge on Jaushua Sotirio and Scott Neville soon followed the Serbian after his own mistimed challenge.
38′ | STAT | That foul was the 20th of the match #SydneyDerby
— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) October 24, 2015
A key factor in a disjointed and disruptive first-half, the foul count climbed at an astronomical rate despite referee Ben Williams’ best attempts to keep certain individuals on the pitch. Ninkovic perfectly summed up the early action when he caught goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne with a late challenge.
Fair to say, it was not the prettiest of first-halves.
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