An emphatic 3-0 win courtesy of a Bruno Fornaroli master class lifted Melbourne City into title contention. The trashing for Sydney will have the Moore Park faithful sweating on Monday night’s Perth Glory fixture, putting Graham Arnold’s tactics, selection and recruitment policy firmly under the spotlight.
With Adelaide United hitting the summit of the league table in pregame, the pressure was on both clubs to arrest the slide in form and send a warning out the rest of the chasing pack. JVS had a complete squad to pick from, reintroducing Harry Novillo to the lineup after a serious off-field misdemeanor.
Graham Arnold meanwhile made no less than six different changes, rotating around the troops to give starts to Zac Anderson, Ali Abbas, Andrew Hoole, marquee man Filip Holosko and Matt Simon, the latter of which recovered from a spleen injury sustained against the Victory last week.
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Ugly opening
Osama Malik defied his initial positioning on the team sheet and acted as a sweeper as opposed to a regular central defender. The opening stanza was sloppy, a period ruined by numerous fouls, missed passes and nerves that outlined how important the fixture was for both teams to impress.
But the new recruit from the Reds had the best chance in the 10th minute, as Malik sprayed a cross wide of Janjetovic to blow a huge opportunity for the hosts.
Sydney playing close to 3 at the back
The Guangzhou win clearly gave the visitors a boost as Sydney looked dangerous on the counter, with Hoole and Holosko combining well on the right before a cutback to Ali Abbas went straight in the arms of the waiting Sorensen. The Iraqi’s overlapping runs down the left contrasted entirely to his partner on the right, with Calver barely passing the halfway line at all.
That opening gave the Sky Blues a lot of confidence, leading to a passage of play of crisp passing to put City under pressure. Yet a Hoole cross and Holosko shot from long range never troubled the Danish keeper. Nevertheless, it was Sydney who looked the more comfortable in possession and the most threatening to break the game open.
Fornaroli shows he is league’s most lethal
As the half began to stretch with most of the space being found out wide, City’s Uruguayan star was left alone up front before Abbas cleared the chance. Later after he cut in from out wide to expose Jurman’s lack of pace to blast a shot from an acute angle.
In the 39th minute, City received a huge boost as Patrick Kisnorbo committed the most blatant of professional fouls, rugby tackling Filip Holosko on the way to the goal. With a defender coming across, the centre-back was incredibly lucky to avoid a send-off, pulling him down at any cost. On another day that decision could have been red rather than yellow, making the most cynical play of the entire weekend, let alone just the evening.
As tensions rose, Sydney would be left to rue the decision and the lack of penetration from the following set piece, as Calver was left alone with Bruno Fornaroli, laying off a pass to Aaron Mooy out wide before his cutback found the leader of the golden boot to smash home. It was the midfielder’s 19th assist of the season and at 1-0 up against the run of play the scoreboard told a different story from the first half.
Effort cannot usurp class
The second half started much the same as the first – scrappily. A through-ball for Sydney put it on a plate for Holosko to run onto, only the Slovakian’s touch abandoned him at the vital moment. With the game going back-to-front, Fornaroli missed a similar chance at the other end just seconds later.
Then a trio of chances for the visitors came within a few minutes. A corner came back to Dimitrijevic to hit Franjic on way to another corner, Holosko smashed the ball wide and Simon’s lay off came to nothing. It was becoming clear that City’s big attacking 3 (Fornaroli, Mooy and Novillo) have far more cutting edge than anything Arnold’s men could muster, even for all their added effort and enthusiasm for the contest.
Each manager decided to ring the changes, seeing the introductions of Robert Stambolziev, Shane Smeltz and Michael Zullo. The switches broke Sydney’s concentration, with Novillo’s incisive pass finding City’s main marksman whose swivel and turn put Sydney’s defence at 6s and 7s. The finish from Fornaroli was emphatic and at 2-0 Sky Blues heads dropped.
Not cool Andrew Hoole
As the game was slipping away and having overrun Novillo to be culpable of the second goal, Andrew Hoole’s night went from bad to worse. After laying a knee into Fornaroli, the naïve winger copped a yellow for giving a spray to the sideline official. It summed up his Sydney career to date, looking promising in the first half and cracking under pressure in the second.
The master class of Fornaroli was then complete as a terrific cross from Zullo out wide exposed Jurman again, this time not for his lack of pace but from a right foot that is only good for standing on. That failed clearance left the pass to the last man Sydney wanted it to fall to – big bad Bruno. 3-0 and it wasn’t just game over, but a whitewash and embarrassment.
City’s rise consigns Sydney to new depths
That icing on the cake allowed both outfits to accept the inevitable to finish at 3-0. It demonstrated how potent and formidable City is with their attacking threat as well as a squad complete with fringe Socceroos and proven A-League footballers.
As for Sydney, Arnold spoke of depth and competition leading into the campaign but digging under the surface reveals a roster incapable of fighting on multiple fronts. It’s not wonder the Victorian franchise is attempting to keep rich suitors away from their marquees, while the Cove will be wondering who will want to take theirs off their hands come May.
The 2-1 Evergrande win midweek, as brilliant as it was for Sydney to conquer the favourites for the Asian crown, ultimately came to nothing backing up three nights later. The good football in the first half made no impact where it mattered and with news of skipper Alex Brosque likely to miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, the likelihood of an upturn in form and fortune appear less likely the longer the campaign runs.
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