An atrocious penalty decision followed by a retake call has gifted Sydney United a 2-1 victory over the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Controversy both on and off the field are the main stories to come out of the scrappy 2-1 loss.
Those who attended on a perfect night for football paid witness to an end to end struggle on the bumpy Edensor Park surface.
The off the pitch controversy reared in the early stages of the match when a single firecracker was let off in the Sydney United supporters corner. A massive police over-reaction followed. Police charged the group with batons, capsicum/pepper spray and police dogs and cleared the entire bay. Pictures from the match showed groups of police signing out members of the public, strangling them in chokeholds and blasting them with pepper spray. There was no reason at all for police to even be in the bay following that single firecracker and attacking the entire group with batons does not come close to 'necessary force'.
Looking from the viewpoint of a member of our active support, this is another reminder about the brutality, disdain and lack of respect the police and security have for active support. It also should be another example that any one person can create a situation where an entire platoon of police will charge and attack our supporter group. As a group we must remain vigilant to avoid giving the hired goons a reason to charge us with their batons and pepper spray and police dogs.
On the pitch the Wanderers conceded their first ever goal just before half-time. A United corner was not cleared by the Wanderers defenders, the ball bounced around the goal square and was turned in by Sydney United to give them the lead.
Kubi came on in the second half and again was explosive. His pace and direct running caused a lot of problems for the United defenders. Mark Bridge equalised for Western Sydney when the United keeper, who had been performing admirably all night, spilled a shot into his path. Bridge made no mistake with the simple tap-in.
The on-field controversy was a major blunder from the referee in awarding Sydney United a penalty when the game was evenly poised at 1-1. Tyson saved the penalty only to see the referee order a re-take. Tyson was unlucky on the second attempt as the ball squeezed past him to give United a 2-1 lead.
Wanderers pushed for a goal to draw the match but came up short. The referee again making a blunder as he failed to allocate any time added on despite multiple goals, the penalty decision and constant substitutions.
The Wanderers will feel both hard done by and disappointed at their effort on the night. Mooy again did a great job in midfield but on the whole the midfield lost the ball too many times when playing against a team at the level of Sydney United. The cohesion on the flanks was not quite together. Overlapping runs were either ignored or passes were made too late or too slowly. It is still quite early on in the pre-season but work will need to be done in addition to more signings.
I am quite impressed at the defensive work. Tactically the group appear nicely compact and keep their shape well. Topor-Stanley is dominant across the back 4, with Covic at the back the Wanderers look like they will be a resilient outfit when defending.
The RBB had a great night, the sound and numbers are really coming together. Several adhoc chants completed the evening for the supporters even if we went home disappointed with the referee ruining the match itself. It was also good to see the RBB sticking together at the end of the match.
The Wanderers next scheduled match is Friday the 31st of August against Melbourne Heart. The match will be at Oakes Oval, Lismore, in the far north of New South Wales.
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