Five goals and a red card produced numerous talking points as the Western Sydney Wanderers let a two goal lead slip against Sydney FC.
The seventh edition of the Sydney Derby was played in front of 41,213 supporters who witnessed the Western Sydney Wanderers finish the match with 9 men and 0 points after losing control of the match and being unable to overcome some dubious officiating.
Western Sydney were a goal up inside 20 minutes, Romeo Castelen left Gersback for dead and delivered a pinpoint accurate cross into the penalty area. Mark Bridge had peeled off his marker and stood on the penalty spot waiting for the cross. Bridge struck at goal with his right foot, the ball fired into the turf and gave Vedran Janjetovic no chance.
The travelling supporters were in dreamland just 5 minutes later. The Wanderers won a corner, took it quickly and the Sydney FC defence hadn't set in time, it flicked off the head of Bridge towards the back post where Ognenovski wildly swung his boot out, only to send the ball high into the night air. With a gaggle of players from both sides waiting for the ball to drop the Janjetovic the Sydney keeper made a right mess of his attempted punch, misjudging the flight of the ball, getting a weak hand that sent the ball falling backwards for one of the worst own goals in the history of the A-League.
In the dying seconds of the first half Sydney FC had a life line through Gamiero. A long ball out of defence found it's way over the head of Daniel Mullen at right fullback. The miss let Alex Brosque poke a backheel into the path of Gamiero, who placed his shot towards the far post, a slight deflection perhaps helping it find the back of the net where it otherwise would have just missed.
They had the equaliser 5 minutes into the second half, Ognenovski connecting with a tame shot after a scramble in the box. The ball deflected away as it passed through the sea of legs in the penalty area and it threw the ball in the opposite direction to Covic's dive. Protests from the Wanderers about Ibini being miles offside went unheeded, even with Ibini blocking Covic's view and holding onto the keeper there was no offside call.
The Wanderers objective from the match from winning to hoping for a draw after the loss of Saba. The Brazilian attacking midfielder received a straight red after his flying tackle on Terry Antonis was judged to have been dangerous. This despite Saba winning the ball and making the slightest of contact with Antonis. It left Western Sydney reeling, and from there Sydney FC were in control of the game. The seemingly inevitable winner for Sydney came in the 79th minute, Brosque had the ball fall to his left foot from Gamiero and it found the right hand corner of the net.
Western Sydney were reduced to 9 men following an injury late on, and with the two man disadvantage were lucky simply to get through the rest of the game without conceding another goal. The post-match press conference saw Wanderers manager Tony Popovic dismayed by the officiating for the second week after the Wanderers were denied a clear penalty against Melbourne Victory, the bad offside call on the equalising goal and Saba's dubious red card in this match didn't help their cause.
Despite the poor officiating, the Wanderers were on the back foot from the moment Gamiero scored Sydney FC's first, and the second half was yet another Derby implosion at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Wanderers have now lost the first two matches of the current A-League season and if you include the Grand Final from last season, have lost three in a row. Changes and massive improvement are required in the upcoming Asian Champions League final otherwise the 5-0 aggregate loss by Adelaide United could be in danger of being broken.
The Wanderers next match is against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the Asian Champions League Final first leg at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday the 25th of October.
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