Sydney FC spectacularly worked their way back from 2-1 down at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon in an entertaining 3-2 win against Central Coast Mariners.
After losing their half-time lead by conceding two goals in quick succession, late goals from Bobo and Anthony Caceres helped Sydney FC to their first league win of the calendar year.
The Sydneysiders got off to a quick start at Leichhardt, with Mustafa Amini testing out Mark Birighitti from long range within the game’s opening seconds, before he was cautioned by referee Kurt Ams at the 10-minute mark.
Minutes later, the Mariners defence failed to properly clear the ball from a Sky Blues corner, with Anthony Caceres latching onto the half chance before placing it over the bar with an audacious attempt on goal.
The early chances continued for the Sydneysiders, as defender Callum Talbot’s powerful attempt on goal did little to worry Birighitti from a difficult angle.
Up the other end, veteran Marco Urena redeemed his 15th-minute booking with a driving effort on goal, which nearly managed to trickle past the post of Sydney’s second-choice goalkeeper Tom Heward-Belle.
With a little over 15 minutes remaining in the first-half, the Mariners looked to threaten on the attack before a speedy Elvis Kamsoba pounced on a loose ball just outside the Mariners box, as striker Jason Cummings brought down the looming counter-attack with a tactical foul on Kamsoba.
An exciting, end-to-end turn of events saw a perfectly placed Amini through ball to Trent Buhagiar excite the crowd with a shot smashed against the side-netting, before Cummings stung the palm of Heward-Belle just moments later.
Sydney looked set to rue the following chances from Milos Ninkovic and a calamitous error from Buhagiar, before Caceres drew and converted a contentious penalty as the first-half drew to a close.
As the Mariners looked for the immediate reply in the second half, Urena’s short-range effort was kept out by Heward-Belle, before the resulting corner found Oliver Bozanic at the edge of the box, who unleashed a rocket into the top corner to equalise for the Mariners.
Minutes later, Kamsoba looked to peg back the lead for the Sky Blues with a curving right-footed attempt, before Cummings’ miraculous effort at the other end bounced off both posts and eventually found its way into the back of the net to put the Mariners 2-1 up.
As Sydney sent in the reinforcements shortly after conceding the goals in quick succession, Bobo made his impact felt with a poised equaliser to steady the ship for Sydney, just eight minutes after coming off the bench.
As Sydney pushed hard for a winner inside the final 15 minutes, Birighitti happily watched a Caceres free-kick sail over the crossbar, before the next play saw the midfielder smash it past the Mariners goalkeeper to complete the comeback from 2-1 down.
The final 10 minutes nearly saw the Sky Blues double their lead on numerous occasions, including a stinging right-footed Kamsoba effort in the 87th minute which just sailed over the bar.
The win for the Sky Blues pushes them up to fifth position on the A-League Men’s ladder, whilst the Mariners were left to rue letting slip their 2-1 lead as they slide out of the top six.
Sydney FC 3 (Caceres 47′ 79′, Bobo, 71′)
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Bozanic 53′, Cummings 57′)
Stadium: Leichhardt Oval
Referee: Kurt Ams
Sydney FC: Tom HEWARD-BELLE (GK), Callum TALLBOT (Harry VAN DER SAAG, 63′), James DONACHIE, Alexander WILKINSON, Connor O’TOOLE, Paulo RETRE, Mustafa AMINI, Milos NINKOVIC (Max BURGESS, 68′), Anthony CACERES, Elvis KAMSOBA (Ben WARLAND, 90′), Trent BUHAGIAR (BOBO, 63′)
Unused Subs: Adam PALSEVIC, Adrian SEGECIC, Corey HOLLMAN
Central Coast Mariners: Mark BIRIGHITTI (GK), Jacob FARRELL, Daniel HALL, Ruon TONGYIK, Lewis MILLER (Cy GODDARD, 86′), Oliver BOZANIC, Harrison STEELE (James BAYLISS, ’67), Beni N’KOLOLO (Matthew HATCH, 68′), MORESCHE (Joshua NISBET, 45′), Marco URENA, Jason CUMMINGS (Nicolai MULLER, 63′)
Unused Subs: Cameron WINDUST, Lawrence CARUSCO
Feature Image Credit: Jaime Castaneda
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