Sydney FC 0 – 2 Western Sydney Wanderers: Sydney FC outclassed by hungry Western Sydney Wanderers

On a night that showcased Sydney’s love of football, Sydney FC went down 2-0 to the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday in a result that will undoubtedly put Sydney FC’s head coach, Frank Farina, under the pump…

On a night that showcased Sydney’s love of football, Sydney FC went down 2-0 to the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday in a result that will undoubtedly put Sydney FC’s head coach, Frank Farina, under the pump.

The game was a scrappy affair, with the Wanderers content to sit back and absorb the pressure of Sydney’s attack, before finally muscling them off the ball.
Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, they frequently made a mess of their majority of possession, allowing the Wanderers to counter-attack frequently without the urgency to regain possession.

While Sydney showed some signs of improvement from last week’s disaster against Brisbane Roar, ultimately they took one step forward, two steps backwards.

The loss of Rhyan Grant to an ACL rupture for the rest of the season was the icing on the disappointment cake for the Sky Blues.

In front of a record Sydney crowd of 40,388, the two teams started off well, with both teams managing early runs into their opponent’s territory. The two sets of fans also started strongly, with the Red and Black Bloc and The Cove singing with gusto. However it was the Wanderers who had reason to celebrate first, with the opening goal coming courtesy of a well flighted Shinji Ono free kick, with Iacopo La Rocca timing his run well enough to launch a bullet header past the helpless Vedran Janjetovic.

Barely minutes later, Japanese playmaker Shinji Ono doubled their lead with a brilliant individual effort. Sydney FC’s centre backs failed to close him down, resulting in a ball lobbing over their heads falling onto the path Ono, who then reacted brilliantly to volley the ball home past Janjetovic’s outstretched hand, sending the away fans into delirium.

While it was clear that the Wanderers were hungry for success, Sydney FC was visibly rattled, most noticeably their left-back Marc Warren. The player appeared over-awed by the occasion, with his routine passes out of defence ending up at the feet of Wanderers players on more than one occasion.The crowd started to get on his back, and he looked pained at times as Sydney tried to scramble their way back into the game.

Nick Carle was impressive up-front but such was Sydney’s impotence at the front of the line that their best shot in the first half on goal came from 30m out. New signing Nikola Petkovic smashed a long-range free kick directly at the Wanderers goal. Ante Covic looked surprised at the accuracy of the strike, but in the end he wasn’t needed as the ball cracked into the crossbar and bounced to safety.

Rhyan Grant went down after making a routine challenge on the 40 minute mark. Clutching his knee from the outset, he was brought out of the game by Frank Farina and replaced with Matt Thompson.

After half-time, Frank Farina brought off Mitch Mallia and gave Yairo Yau his first run in a Sydney FC shirt this season. With his inclusion, the second half began more positively for Sydney, with the first 5-10 minutes of the half featuring numerous runs into Wanderers territory. But the away side again proved solid in the back; their defence remaining compact while waiting for Sydney to cough up possession.

Sydney FC had a few chances to take their shots but, in the end, Ante Covic was barely untroubled for the whole evening.

The remainder of the second half saw no goals, but a lot of yellow cards as both sides started to niggle at the other. Multiple yellow cards to both teams started flying as Strebre Delovski attempted to keep the game in order.

As the game petered to a close, the away fans kept singing mightily, their cries echoing around the stadium. Sydney FC will be watching highlights of their own fans leaving the game before full-time with great concern. This season they achieved a club record number of memberships off the back of a poor season. How long can the fans retain the faith?

FTSAL MOTM: Shinji Ono

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Tomi Juric, Nikola Petkovic

Google+