Superb Sydney beat Mariners 2-0
What a difference a week makes. Sydney FC have soared back up to 5th place on the A-League ladder after a priceless 2-0 victory against second-placed Central Coast Mariners. Claiming such an impressive scalp is sure to do wonders for morale in the Sky Blue camp, fuelling them in the fight for finals. Sydney’s well-deserved win meant they leapfrogged Newcastle and Brisbane, who lost and drew respectively.
Sebastian Ryall opened the scoring and Joel Chianese made it comfortable with his first goal of the season. They helped Sydney make it back-to-back wins over the Mariners and six home wins in a row in front of the 16,155-strong Allianz Stadium crowd.
With Fabio and Ali Abbas suspended and Lucas Neill injured, Coach Frank Farina was forced to make three changes to his starting XI. In came Tiago Calvano, Ryall and Terry Antonis.
After a cautious opening few minutes, the Sky Blues looked the most dangerous in the first half and produced a string of great chances. No prizes for guessing that Del Piero was at the heart of every good attacking move. The Italian was clearly in the mood, and although he didn’t get on the scoresheet for once; his scintillating form hasn’t dipped one bit.
The Mariners had the lion’s share of possession in the second half, but the home side’s impressive defence prevented them from turning it into genuine chances on goal. Sydney’s defenders have copped a huge amount of criticism this season, but they were superb in this match – solid, organised, and hard-working.
Farina’s men will look to extend their unbeaten home run to seven next Saturday (16 March) in a blockbuster of a match against arch-rivals Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.45pm. These clubs and their fans sure don’t like each other, so there’s never a dull moment in these fierce and heated match-ups. You won’t want to miss this one! Sydney FC’s season in still on the line, while the Victory is sitting high up in third place. Pressure’s on.
Catch the highlights of the weekend’s win over the Central Coast here:
Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory
Allianz Stadium
Saturday 16th of March 2013
7:30pm