Sydney FC climbed to within sight of the Hyundai A-League competition lead with another come-from-behind victory, this time defeating Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Ausgrid Stadium this afternoon.
Sydney FC climbed to within sight of the Hyundai A-League competition lead with another come-from-behind victory, this time defeating Newcastle Jets 2-1 at Ausgrid Stadium this afternoon.
Second half goals to strikers Bruno Cazarine and Juho Makela gave Sydney FC a well deserved victory after it followed a sluggish opening 30 minutes with 60 minutes of dominance against a Newcastle side that had been impenetrable at home.
Sydney FC went into the match with the same starting side that drew 0-0 with the Gold Coast last weekend but coach Vitezslav Lavicka handed teenager Mitchell Mallia a Sydney FC debut.
It was the home side that settled first and after sending a couple of warning shots at the Sky Blues goal Newcastle opened the scoring with a tremendous strike to Jeremy Brockie in the 25th minute.
Brockie found the back of the net with a stinging first time volley from the edge of the penalty area after Sydney failed to clear an innocuous cross by Ruben Zadkovich.
The goal sparked Sydney FC into life and the Sky Blues should have equalised in the 32nd minute when Cazarine had a shot blocked after great lead up work by Dimi Petratos and Nick Carle.
Carle was next with a clear-cut chance when Sydney FC broke quickly in transition through Jamie Coyne and Petratos but Carle was unable to convert after finding himself in a one-on-one situation with Newcastle goalkeeper Ben Kennedy.
Just before half time, Sydney FC had another half chance that fell to Karol Kisel, but he pulled it wide and the Sky Blues went to the break trailing 1-0.
Sydney FC was forced into a change at the half time break with Brett Emerton replaced suffering a tight hamstring. Despite the disruption, the game continued in the same vein after half time with Sydney FC having chances to Rhyan Grant, who replaced Emerton, and Cazarine.
The pressure eventually took its toll in the 59th minute when Cazarine scored his 3rd goal of the season to level the scores at 1-1. The goal came from another quick transition, Petratos crossed from the right to the far post where Kisel controlled the ball and rolled it back across goal for Cazarine to score with an easy tap-in.
As with Sydney FC midway through the first half, Newcastle was shocked into action when they conceded as both teams pushed forward looking for a winner but it was Sydney FC that was in control.
Mallia made his debut appearance in a Sydney FC shirt when he replaced Cazarine in the 76th minute and within 60 seconds fired a shot just wide.
The winning goal came in the 84th minute through the head of Makela with a well-taken strike from inside the six-yard box but it was a delightful ball from Pascal Bosschaart that created the opportunity.
Newcastle went down to 10 men in the dying minutes when captain Jobe Wheelhouse received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
The Sky Blues could have easily found another goal with Grant, who was excellent after replacing Emerton, and Carle having late chances but Sydney FC wound down the clock for a crucial victory.
Sydney FC now switches its attention to back-to-back home games against Adelaide United (22 December) and Melbourne Heart (29 December).
Sydney FC 2 (Bruno Cazarine 59, Juho Makela 84) d Newcastle Jets 1 (Jeremy Brockie 25)
Ausgrid Stadium
Crowd: 13,658
Referee: Chris Beath
Sydney FC: 1. Liam Reddy, 3. Jamie Coyne, 4. Pascal Bosschaart, 5. Michael Beauchamp, 7. Brett Emerton (23. Rhyan Grant ‘46), 8. Karol Kisel, 9. Bruno Cazarine (24. Mitch Mallia ‘74), 10 Nick Carle, 11. Dimi Petratos (18. Juho Makela ‘65), 12. Shannon Cole, 15. Terry McFlynn (c).
Sub not used: 20. Ivan Necevski.
Yellow cards: Kisel 31, Beauchamp 70, Grant 91.
Red cards: Nil
Newcastle: 1. Ben Kennedy, 2. Taylor Regan, 5. Tiago Calvano, 7. Kasey Wehrman (6. Ben Kantarovski ‘76), 8. Jeremy Brockie (15. Chris Payne ‘82), 10. Ruben Zadkovich, 11. Tarek Elrich, 12. Jobe Wheelhouse, 13. Sung-Hwan Byun, 23. Ryan Griffiths, 24. Francis Jeffers (14. Labinot Haliti ‘60).
Sub not used: 19. Matthew Nash (gk).
Yellow cards: Wheelhouse 57, Regan 74, Calvano 81, Wheelhouse 85
Red cards: Wheelhouse 85
