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17July20
Sydney All But Claim Minor Premiership
by Jeremy Ruane
Runaway Hyundai A-League leaders Sydney FC came from behind to down Wellington Phoenix 3-1 in front of 1,796 fans at a rain-soaked Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on July 17, in what was the first match of the condensed conclusion to a season which continues to suffer from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The result means the reigning champions are virtually assured of claiming the minor premiership in this season's competition, with Wellington the only team that can still catch them, and even then, a remarkable run of results would have to unfold for the Sydneysiders to be denied this honour once again.
The scoreline didn't reflect the contest, however, because Wellington were on top for large swathes of this game, and were denied in the end by some dubious officiating - where's the Video Assistant Referee when he's needed?
Oh the irony! The much-vilified officiating tool has been shelved for the remainder of the A-League season, and in the very first game of the resumption of play, its absence is being bemoaned, when all season long, its presence has been, at best, tolerated.
The visitors set out their stall from the outset, but Sydney's defence dealt well with all the probing crosses Wellington could muster until the fourteenth minute. That was when the spectre of VAR first reared its head, as Jaushua Sotirio met David Ball's cross with a volley which was quite clearly blocked by the arm of Rhyan Grant.
Referee Chris Beath and his team saw no offence, however, much to the annoyance of the Wellingtonians, for whom Stefan Marinovic was soon seen in flying formation, diving to his left to keep out Luke Brattan's fiercely struck twenty-yarder.
After Luke De Vere went close to putting through his own net while dealing with the attentions of Adam Le Fondre as the striker looked to capitalise on Brattan's delightfully angled ball in behind the defence, Wellington started to gain the upper hand once more, with Rene Piscopo crowning a concerted spell of pressure with a well-struck twenty-yarder which was only narrowly astray on the half-hour.
A gathering of the clans - social distancing? What's that? - followed a 39th minute incident which saw Alex Rufer booked for a high boot which caught Brattan, who forced Marinovic to tip his free-kick over the bar four minutes later.
Back came Wellington, Piscopo's corner on the stroke of half-time prompting an almighty goalmouth scramble which Sydney ultimately survived to ensure half-time came about with no goals on the board.
End-to-end action was the way of life at the start of the second spell, with headed clearances by Liberato Cacace and Paulo Retre thwarting opportunities at either end of the park in the early stages of the half.
Andrew Redmayne was forced to dash out of his goal and clear the danger posed by Matti Steinmann as he led a counter-attack, while in the 57th minute Sydney's goalkeeper was forced into action by Piscopo's fierce drive upon receipt of a Rufer pass.
Play instantly switched to the other end of the park, with Le Fondre cutting in off the left before working a one-two with Costa Barbarouses prior to unleashing a shot which Marinovic saved at the second attempt.
Sydney unveiled some delightful intricate play around the edge of Wellington's penalty area in the 61st minute, culminating in a cross to the far post from Barbarouses which Le Fondre headed back across goal.
De Vere cleared the danger and sparked a counter-attack led by half-time substitute Callum McCowatt. He galloped down the left before seeing his cross ricochet behind Sotirio, who was unable to
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capitalise on the opening.
Sydney scrambled clear on this occasion, but when Cacace stormed into the penalty area in the 65th minute, there was no escape for Ryan McGowan, who felled the flying fullback and gave referee Beath an easy penalty decision. Up stepped Piscopo - 1-0 Wellington.
A slew of substitutions swiftly followed - the pandemic situation means teams can now replace up to five players during a match, on a maximum of three separate occasions plus half-time - after which Milos Ninkovic combined with Retre for the benefit of Le Fondre, only for Marinovic to intervene in the 71st minute.
Four minutes later, Alex Baumjohann led the charge downfield for the title-holders, the substitute then inviting Grant to deliver a cross towards Le Fondre which Louis Fenton headed over his own crossbar.
Baumjohann's corner was partially cleared, but then struck Ulises Davila on the arm. Referee Beath pointed to the spot for the second time in the game as the Mexican protested his innocence in vain. Up stepped Le Fondre, who sent Marinovic the wrong way from twelve yards - 1-1.
The home team looked to take advantage of the momentum from this equaliser three minutes later. Grant and Brattan worked a one-two on the right which culminated in the fullback's low cross being directed past the near post by substitute Trent Buhagiar.
The absence of VAR was once more regretted by Wellington in the 84th minute, with the offside flag being wrongly raised to rule out the flicked finish of the clearly onside Gary Hooper, as he diverted Davila's shot past Redmayne.
Two minutes later, the visitors were again denied by dubious officiating - if you listened closely enough, you could clearly hear the "Same old Aussies, always cheating!" taunts from the eastern side of the Tasman, this time in response to another penalty claim, this time for a challenge on Cacace by Grant.
You can handle being denied a close call once in a game, twice at a push. But three times? And with each instance being fairly clear-cut? Wellington's frustration was understandable, and it was compounded when Sydney struck twice in as many minutes twisted the knife somewhat.
Ninkovic intercepted Davila's 88th minute pass and instantly slipped the ball through to Buhagiar, who rounded the fast-approaching figure of Marinovic - what was he doing so far out of goal? - and tucked the ball home into the empty net, despite the despairing efforts of Steven Taylor to deny him.
2-1 became 3-1 within two minutes. De Vere's pass was cut out by Baumjohann, who picked out Le Fondre. His perfectly timed pass sent Buhagiar scooting through from half-way, and the striker duly set sail for goal.
Marinovic had learnt his lesson from the previous goal, and this time stood his ground, to be rewarded by a parried save of Buhagiar's shot. But the speedster followed in and executed a delicious chipped finish to clinch the points for Sydney.
There was still time for Cacace to tear down the left once more and send a cross fizzing across the face of goal - it only needed a touch to reduce the deficit - but 3-1 was the outcome in Sydney's favour, a situation which would surely have been different had the Video Assistant Referee been in operation.
Sydney: Redmayne; Grant, McGowan, Wilkinson, King (Zullo, 69); Caceres (Baumjohann, 69 (booked, 85)), Brattan (Zuvela, 90), Retre, Ninkovic; Barbarouses (Buhagiar, 69), Le Fondre (Ivanovic, 90)
Wellington: Marinovic; Fenton, Taylor, De Vere, Cacace; Rufer (booked, 39) (Elliot, 90), Steinmann (Wilson, 87); Sotirio (Hooper, 66), Ball, Piscopo (Davila, 66); Waite (McCowatt, 46)
Referee: Chris Beath
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