The Western Sydney Wanderers have defeated Sydney FC in the 7th ‘Sydney Derby’ before a packed and very vocal Allianz Stadium crowd on Saturday night.
In a typically physical encounter between the two clubs, a number of early cautions were delivered by the referee in an attempt to settle the tempo and extra adrenaline evident in a few tackles.
Sydney FC had the best field possession and touch early in the match, but were undone by a Wanderers goal to captain Mark Bridge who connected with a cross and bumped the ball into the corner of the net.
A yellow card to Sydney FC player Sebastian Ryall hurt more as FC went down another goal moments later. An own goal that was eventually pinned on goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic saw the Wanderers up 2-0 and the Sky Blues playing rattled.
Sydney FC rallied before the end of the first half to net a goal and pull the deficit back to 1. Corey Gameiro slotted a a tight shot by the keeper and rejuvenated his side.
It did not take long for the momentum picked up at the end of the first half to be converted into point in the second. The Wanderers netted an own goal through captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley who made a defensive lunge to intercept a shot. 2-2 with 40 minutes on the clock and the Wanderers were on the back-foot.
Western Sydney were doing their best to hold off a rampant Sydney attack, and it began to get the better of the FC players. Yellow cards to Sydney new signing Bernie Ibini-Isei, veteran Sasa Ognenovski and several other exchanges had the tempo and emotion on the pitch running in the red.
Vitor Saba saw that very colour, sent off in the 69th minute after flying into a tackle on Terry Antonis. A straight red for the new import in the Wanderers squad who had displayed (pardon the pun) good touch throughout the game.
Losing a man solidified the Western Sydney Wanderers defence and made it hard for Sydney FC to penetrate the goal box.
It took a wonderful strike in the 80th minute from Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque to break the deadlock and give Sydney a famous win.
The Wanderers have lead by 2 goals to nil 16 times in their club’s history, but tonight was the first time they have lost from this position. Questions are being asked if their preparations for the upcoming Asian Champions League final are hampering their A-League pursuits.
When asked during the lead up to the Sydney Derby, manager Tony Popovic offered only silence.
The Wanderers are now 0-0-3 from their opening matches in the 2014 A-League competition.
