Sydney wins thrilling derby over Wanderers

Allianz Stadium at Moore Park in Sydney was packed to the rafters for the highly anticipated derby between Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers.

Before the game The Cove unveiled an enormous banner called Our Sydney which depicted a blue hand snatching a red claw from grabbing the Sydney Opera House. Creative indeed from the home fans who witnessed their side win 3-1 in a thrilling contest.

After the game, home coach Frank Farina expressed how happy he was with his side’s performance especially since coming away only seven days earlier with a loss to the Central Coast Mariners.

His counterpart Tony Popovic was not too disappointed despite losing for the second consecutive week because his main priority was to praise his defence. In Popovic’s opinion, SydneyFC didn’t really create one scoring chance from general play.

ydney FC were very unlucky not to score early on when Terry Antonis went charging towards the Wanderers’ goal and was fouled from behind, but incredibly he still managed to get the ball away to Ranko Despotovic who found himself alone in front of goalkeeper Ante Covic and in the end the visitors can thank their custodian for turning it away for a corner.

It also must be stated that it was great refereeing from Kris Griffith Jones to actually allow the advantage and not stop play for the foul on Antonis.

Brendon Santalab in the box slipped before he could get his shot away which in the end was easy prey for goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic.

However, the best chance for the Wanderers was just after the half hour mark when Youssouf Hersi unleashed an almighty thunderbolt that was destined for the top right hand corner of the net until Vedran Janjetovic brilliantly turned the ball away for a corner.

The first half, fought out tooth and nail, finished scoreless but it was the second stanza of play that provided all the action including the goals and a missed penalty.

T Wanderers took the lead just after the break with a goal from close range to Shinji Ono. A Mark Bridge cross found the the neck and head of Santalab who flicked the ball up for Shinji Ono and the Japanese maestro put a lovely volley into the back of the net.

A couple of minutes later another Bridge cross into the box created havoc because Richard Garcia somehow managed to bring down two players all in one motion: Santalab and Hersi. For referee Griffith Jones, it was an easy decision to award the penalty. Up stepped Bridge himself but he was denied by a brilliant diving save by Janjetovic.

Sydney FC equalised shortly afterwards when a Nikola Petkovic free-kick found Matt Jurman in the box and the rugged defender header beautifully into goal. However, part of the blame must be given to Ante Covic who came out but couldn’t reach the ball with his fist.

The Sky Blues took the lead in the 75th minute when Michael Beauchamp tried to turn the ball back to Covic it was intercepted by Richard Garcia who slotted home beautifully. It was really a calamitous error by the defender who appeared to lose his footing after receiving the ball from Covic.

Right at the death when Jerome Polenz handled the ball in the area, referee Griffiths-Jones didn’t hesitate to award the home side a penalty. Up stepped Ali Abbas, given that Alessandro Del Piero had been replaced about a half hour earlier, and he delightfully sent Covic the wrong way.

It sent to home fans into raptures and gave Farina some more breathing space given the turbulence which has fallen his way in recent weeks.

Sydney FC: Janjetovic, Petkovic, Calver, Jurman, Ognenovski, Garcia, Gligor, Antonis, Abbas, Del Piero (62’ Gameiro), Despotovic (71’ Urosevski).

Western Sydney Wanderers: Covic, D’Apuzzo, Topor-Stanley, Beauchamp, Polenz, Poljak (70’ Mooy), Santalab, Hersi, La Rocca, Bridge, Ono (70’ Mebrahtu, 77’ Haliti).