Sydney FC goalscoring hero Brett Emerton has backed coach Frank Farina’s call for consistency as the Sky Blues look to build on last night’s dramatic 1-0 victory over the Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium.
Sydney FC goalscoring hero Brett Emerton has backed coach Frank Farina-s call for consistency as the Sky Blues look to build on last night-s dramatic 1-0 victory over the Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium.
Emerton scored the winning goal in the 89th minute of a gripping contest and led the celebrations in front of The Cove but was quick to come back down to earth this morning as the players underwent a recovery session at Macquarie University.
“Last night was special, to score a late winner after all we have been through recently but we need to make sure it is not a one-off,” Emerton said. “We need to back it up with some consistency and look to do it week-in week-out. It was a good win, a much-needed win but it is just one win.”
Sydney FC continues its busy Christmas/New Year period with a trip to Hindmarsh Stadium where they take on second-placed Adelaide United on New Years Eve and Emerton has implored his team mates to replicate the performance that allowed them to outplay and outpoint the competition favourites.
“For me the performance was far more impressive than the result,” Emerton said. “We need points at the moment, sure, but we need to improve the way we are playing and I think we did that. We kept possession well and looked in control of the match against a team that has been doing very well.”
The stand-in Captain also backed the group of youngsters who have injected the Sydney FC side with enthusiasm. Peter Triantis made his starting debut, Alex Urosevski came off the bench for his first A-League appearance, Vedran Janjetovic made two crucial saves in keeping a clean sheet and Rhyan Grant was a standout as Man of the Match.
“I thought they (youngsters) did really well,” Emerton said. “It showed we have some depth and gives us a lot of confidence going forward.”
One of the youngsters to shine was Rhyan Grant, who escaped unscathed after a horror tackle from Tom Rogic but Emerton was adamant the venom in the tackle was out of character for his laid-back Socceroos team mate.
“It was a nasty tackle but it-s not in his (Rogic) character to do that,” Emerton said. “He-s a tremendous talent and a nice guy and I think he has a big future.”
