Two extra-time goals for Sydney FC saw them through to the FFA Cup quarter-finals, as Ante Milicic suffered yet another personnel setback.
A dull, cagey 90 minutes at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Wednesday night grew even more miserable for Milicic when the boys in blue broke the deadlock in extra time, before adding the second and final blow minutes before the final whistle.
A characteristically breathtaking display from goalkeeper Filip Kurto was not enough to keep Macarthur afloat as their inaugural FFA Cup run came to a close.
Charles M’mombwa slipped awkwardly on the rain-soaked ground, hobbling off the field with the assistance of Bulls’ medics. In the second period of extra-time, Antonis Martis was red-carded after pulling down Sydney’s Adam Le Fondre when he closed in on goal. Both incidents adding to Macarthur’s already worrying list of unavailable talent.
“Charles is no good. He obviously had to come off and is getting assessed by the physios and doctors now, but no he’s not good,” Milicic said after Wednesday’s defeat.
“If you look at just tonight, we lose Tomi Juric to an injury, we lose Charles, and we lose Antonis with a red card which I’ll have to have another look at to be honest – I wasn’t sure about some of the refereeing calls tonight.”
Macarthur were judged to have committed 15 fouls on Wednesday night, collecting three yellow cards to accompany the late red.
“A lot of teams go into games missing one or two players, it happens. But we’re missing four of five of our most important players. It makes things so much harder for us,” Milicic said.
“So now we’re saying, ‘Do I want to see more going forward?’ Yeah I do want to see more going forward. You give me Jordon Mutch, Uli Dávila, Tomi Juric, Craig Noone and you know what? I guarantee there’ll be more going forward. I’m not a miracle worker.
“Tonight though, those players were on the other side of the railing. I can’t stay up all night about that.”
Whilst clearly unhappy with the outcome, Macarthur’s head coach had plenty of praise for the youthful depth of players that turned out for his side in Kogarah.
“Today gave me an indication of the kind of depth we have at this football club. Obviously I go away disappointed with the result but I also know that there’s some players out there tonight who I can count on moving forward,” he said.
“There’s boys that handled themselves well and showed they’re ready to be a part of the Macarthur journey this season.
“To come in and play against a Sydney FC side that are far more match-hardened than we are is a really big ask. A lot of the guys who played tonight, they’ve barely had any match fitness at this level.
”
Michael Ruhs led the line for the Bulls after Juric’s late withdrawal, whilst Jack McLoughlin, Lachlan Sepping and Diego Bonilla made their debuts for the club.
Milicic is keeping both feet firmly on the ground despite his side sitting atop the A-League Men table for the first time in their short history.
“Top after three games doesn’t mean anything; it’s a good start, that’s all,” he said.
“I’m just concerned now with planning for a very difficult game against Western Sydney Wanderers.
We’ve got a shorter turnaround, we’ve picked up more injuries and now a suspension. We’re on our knees.
“Now it’s about getting back up and going and putting in a good performance on the weekend. We’ve shown some really good signs so far in the league and we want to build on them now. It’ll be tough though.”
Feature Image Credit: Macarthur FC
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
