Sydney FC raced out to a 3-0 lead before the Wanderers fought back to level pegging, only to see Terry Antonis win an epic derby 4-3 with his late goal.
Just 10 minutes into the 9th Sydney Derby, the visitors had the lead via the head of Wanderers keeper Ante Covic. Milos Dimitrijevic whipped in a corner to the near post that had Nikolai Topor-Stanley & Covic scrambling, the ball bouncing up into the crossbar then unluckily off the head of Covic for an own goal.
It went from bad to worse as Sydney FC doubled their advantage only 8 minutes later. Bernie Ibini & Chris Naumoff combined to produce a shot on goal, and in another unlucky bounce, it fell to the advantage of Janko who smartly tapped the ball into the back of the net.
With barely a quarter of the game played the visiting side were up three goals as Janko popped up for his brace. Seb Ryall smashed a long ball up the park. With Janko & Brendan Hamill coming together without a conclusive winner the ball fell loose to the turf. Hamill had lost sight while Janko was Johnnie on the spot with a clinical finish.
It could have been four not long after if it wasn't for a misfiring Naumoff, with an open goal begging as Covic continued his horror night by being rounded by Alex Brosque, the young forward blasted wide.
With a half-hour of frenetic football done, the Wanderers found a lifeline into the match through Iacopo La Rocca. Yojiro Takahagi swung in a free kick to the far post, finding Hamill or nodded back down, La Rocca reacting first to scoop the ball into the roof of the net.
Prior the break the fifth goal of the half was scored by Kerem Bulut. The Western Sydney lad scoring on his debut after Takahagi released Nikita Rukavystsya, his first time cross inches away from the diving Vedran Janjetovic and leaving Bulut with a tap-in from point blank range that he couldn't miss.
As the game swung into gear in the second half the Wanderers completed their comeback by drawing level as that man Bulut drilled a rocket of a strike into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area. He stole Labinot Haliti's gimmick by removing his shirt and celebrating with the RBB.
Graham Arnold responded with a raft of substitutions and the final one proved the difference with 15 minutes to go. After having done all the hard work in getting back on level terms, it was Hamill who completed his awful night by effectively passing it straight to Antonis, his first touch took him past the scrambling defence and his second was a shot across the keeper.
Despite a later red card to Mickael Tavares for two bookable offences, the Wanderers weren't able to produce another equaliser, and are now 3 points behind 9th place Newcastle and rapidly approaching the point where there is no mathematical chance of making the top 6.
The Wanderers next match is against Guangzhou Evergrande in the Asian Champions League group stage, on Wednesday the 4th of March.
.thumb.jpeg.8663c814cdeed17a3f162df4556d1c49.jpeg)
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now