The first Sydney Derby of the season took place in Moore Park this evening, with the Wanderers coming out victors by the narrowest of margins via a Zac Sapsford strike in the 72nd minute against his former club the only goal of the game.
The Wanderers came into the match unbeaten so far in the first 4 games, on 8 points and knowing a win would put them on top of the A-League ladder on goal difference. Sydney FC sacked Steve Corica after their horrible start, and immediately picked up their first win of the season in a 5-1 thrashing of Adelaide. Both teams missed their cross-town 'turncoats', with Milos Ninkovic out for Western Sydney and Jack Rodwell unsurprisingly out with injury for Sydney FC. Lachie Brook's concussion protocol kept him out for the visiting Wanderers.
Sydney FC kicked off and their attempt at a training ground routine failed miserable, kicking it out for a throw. Western Sydney won an early foul and their own attempt at a routine ended with Marcus Antonsson being wrongly adjudicated offside as he tried to play it into the middle.
6 minutes in and the Wanderers appeared to have taken the lead. Antonsson popping up in the right place at the right time to make it 1-0, a ball from Hendrix's free kick saw Sydney FC asleep, he found Milanovic in behind and the first time across the face of goal from Jorrit Hendrix found the striker and he made no mistake. As usual, the VAR popped up to spoil the party, picking out a marginal offside with Antonsson supposedly with a foot in front of the ball as it was played.
Brandon Borrello had come into the match under an injury cloud and that cloud unleashed a downpour to match the sodden skies above the stadium, he went off after 15 minutes with fears of a broken foot that could keep him out for several months. He was replaced by former Sydney FC youth product Zac Sapsford.
Marcelo and Sapsford combined to put the Sydney FC goal under siege, a corner that found Marcelo and he rose unmarked, hit the crossbar. The ball rebounded to Sapsford and his contact knocked it back on goal where Redmayne was positioned well enough to block it off the line. Joe Lolley had a glorious chance 5 minutes before the break as he was undefended at the far post but scuffed his shot terrible into the pitch and gave Lawrence Thomas an easy pickup. Lolley had a duplicate chance at the start of stoppage time, and this shot was much fiercer and bought the best out of Thomas who beat it away with a diving save.
Sydney FC made a half-time change with the introduction of Rhyan Grant in place of starting right fullback Zac De Jesus. 4 minutes into the second half a handball shout came after Milanovic nodded down, after a typically quick VAR check for anything going the Wanderers way it was cleared and play went on. The home team were served up what looked to be a certain goal on a silver platter, Thomas fell in a heap after slipping and sliding on the wet turf, he scrambled back to the goal with Jaiden Kucharski closing in but the young striker's composure failed at the worst moment, he picked out the only part of the goal that Thomas was covering and blasted it straight at the keeper and away from danger.
The game had petered out a little but Sapsford lit up Moore Park in the 73rd minute. Dylan Pierias overcame two Sydney defenders to knock the ball down and into the path of Sapsford who continued his run to the 18 yard box. He cut inside onto his right foot, sending his defender tumbling to the turf, giving him a clear shot at goal and he nailed a perfect curving strike past Andrew Redmayne who had no chance. Sapsford ran off to celebrate in front of the home active supporters who booed him earlier in the match.
Thomas came up big again with Anthony Caceres hammering a shot at the near post, Thomas blocked it in front of him, and just as it looked like Patrick Wood could come in and tap it home, the big keeper reached out and kept it away. With 9 minutes in regulation left, Marcus Younis was bought on to replace Pierias.
Sydney FC managed to get in each other's way to block their route to goal, a pinball moment with Wood, Caceres & Holman all trying to get on the end of a scramble in the 6 yard box, the shot ended up out for a corner and said corner was harmless in the end. With 5 minutes to go, Thomas, arguably the player of the game after a string of saves went down a second time with what looked like a knock in the upper thigh or midriff, but he stayed on the pitch and even took a goal kick.
The 4th official threw up 7 minutes of stoppage time, with no much justification over the usual 4 minutes, and it gave Sydney FC a last shot of hope. Their final hope came with a typical Sydney FC dive in the 96th minute, rightly waved away and with the ball up the other end as the 97th minute ticked over, Alex King blew the final whistle, the Wanderers taking three points and their place at the top of the A-League ladder with a deserved Derby win.
The Wanderers next match is against Brisbane Roar, in Brisbane on Friday the 1st of December with kick-off at 7:45pm.
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