Déjà vu all over again. Two seasons in a row the footballing gods have chosen to strike down and delay a match between the Glory and the Sky Blues.
At Macedonia Park earlier in the year it was the lights that went out in the second half. This time in Sydney, it was the lightning that struck down near Allianz Stadium which caused a lengthy delay to the restart.
On both occasions Sydney held a 2-0 lead at the break, and again Perth managed to hit the scoresheet in added time. Only this time, it wasn’t a last gasp equaliser but merely a consolation to cap off another below par performance.
Bar the opening 10 minutes, Sydney had full control of the game. With 55% possession, Ufuk Talay’s side peppered the Glory goal with 33 shots and had nine big chances.
If it weren’t for Cameron Cook’s 11 saves and Sydney’s general wastefulness in front of goal, the scoreline would have been a lot uglier.
Robert Mak and Joe Lolley had field days on either side. It was an eerily similar showing from both the Slovakian and the Englishmen, both creating seven chances, missing three big chances and getting on the scoresheet in the first half.
A quick break bypassing the Glory midfield saw Lolley played clean through by Patrick Wood. Cook blocked the first attempt, Wood’s follow up was blocked by Mark Beevers and then third time around Lolley struck a beauty beyond Cook and Daryll Lachman on the line to open the scoring.
It was Sydney’s first goal at home this season, breaking a goal drought which lasted over four hours at their relatively new fortress.
Mak got in on the action just before the break with a wonderful but fortunate solo goal. Driving past Gio Colli, the winger somehow found his way past three Glory players to get into the box. A fake shot took Johnny Koutroumbis out of the equation to allow for a simple finish on his right foot to double the lead just before the interval.
The space afforded to Sydney as a whole was simply unacceptable. The relative ease in which they were able to find an outlet pass to break and open up the field will no doubt have Alen Stajcic concerned and searching for answers.
The back four has not changed since the opening game and I don’t see it changing any time soon. Koutroumbis and Susnjar have been solid as a full back pairing for the most part, but they were outplayed on the weekend.
Huge question marks surround the midfield, one of the biggest talking points in the discussion around team selection.
From what I’ve seen, Colli hasn’t offered enough going forward. Playing deeper as a distributor hasn’t had the desired effect, and he was caught out defensively by Mak on a couple of occasions.
Mustafa Amini is back in the squad for tonight’s match, and with Aaron McEneff getting more game time under his beltthere is pressure on Colli to step up in order to keep his spot in the starting eleven.
Another banging on the door for a starting spot is Stef Colakovski, who added to his tally of goal contributions off the bench with the assist for the Glory’s first goal. An intricate one-two with Koutroumbis was followed by a well-weighted pass in behind for Adam Taggart to run onto.
The main man kept his cool to reduce the deficit, comfortably slotting the ball past Andrew Redmayne in the Sydney net.
Colakovski should have had a goal next to his name to go with it, missing a guilt edged chance with the keeper out of the equation thanks to a great cross from Daniel Bennie.
Bruce Kamau also made an appearance off the bench, back in the team after picking up an injury against the Wanderers.
With Bennie in the mix, the battle for the two wide spots seems set to ramp up. Salim Khelifi and Jarrod Carluccio swapped sides in the first half and were both kept very quiet, the former the most likely to drop to the bench if a change is made.
Susnjar’s own goal late in the game settled the result but wasn’t the end of the scoring as Oli Bozanic opened his Glory account in style with a wonderful free kick from a narrow angle.
Matildas’ year ends with consecutive defeats
A ground-breaking 2023 for the Matildas ended in disappointment on Wednesday, going down to Canada 1-0 in the second of their two matches against the nation they beat comfortably in the World Cup group stage.
A much stronger side took the field to the one who were defeated 5-0 at Starlight Stadium, but not enough to get the job done against Bev Priestman’s side, taking victory thanks to midfielder Quinn’s goal from a set piece.
The challenge for the squad and Tony Gustavsson now is to build on the magnificent year they’ve had with a strong showing at the Paris Olympics.
Expectations should be high, even more so knowing England and Sweden won’t be a threat having failed to qualify.
The squad depth remains a talking point, with the manager only making one substitution midweek after throwing a full second-string team into the deep end for the first game and paying the price for it.
Final wrap
It’s a double dose of Glory versus City, with the men in action tonight at HBF Park and the women away tomorrow in a top of the table clash. Now two games outside of the top six, the need for a win is growing and a home game looks like our best chance of getting it.
The premiers have gotten away slowly, nowhere near the levels of the past but on the march upwards again having defeated Newcastle away last time round.
Surprisingly, a win would see us go above City on the table on goal difference. Always an entertaining clash, expect more than a few goals in a game which should make for great viewing as a neutral and an emotionally draining one for the fans of either side.
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