Sydney FC came back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Central Coast Mariners at Allianz Stadium and seal our third win over the Gosford club this season for the first time since August 2008.
Summary
Sydney FC 4 (Janko 13’, 92’, Grant 67’, Smeltz 81’) beat Central Coast Mariners 2 (Ferreira 45’+1’, 58’).
Three goals in a second half comeback from Sydney FC sealed a 4-2 victory in a remarkable game against the Central Coast Mariners tonight.
The Sky Blues took an early lead in the first half before Fabio Ferreira put the visitors in front with two goals either side of half time.
A stunning strike from Rhyan Grant levelled things with 20 minutes to go before a brilliant solo effort from Shane Smeltz put Sydney FC in the lead.
Marc Janko took his tally to ten for the season to go joint top of the Hyundai A-League goalscoring charts with a sealer in the final minutes, and move the Sky Blues to within five points of the top of the table.
What they said
Graham Arnold: “Positive out of it is four goals and three points and the character we showed when we went down two, one, to comeback.
“I have to say the Mariners were good today and it’s very healthy when I can look down the bench and bring someone on like Shane Smeltz who can change the game and we ran the game out well. I’m happy with the result, and that puts us in good position now to move forward and we can look forward to going to the small stadium next week at Parramatta.
“I know that the fans have gone home extremely happy, the spectacle of six goals and the way we finished the game, they’ll go home happy. We’ll come back in and get ready for the Wanderers.”
Key Moments
10’ JANJETOVIC SAVE – Long ballfrom Montgomery finds Cernak who is clear on goal but Janjetovic judges his dive perfectly to touch the ball away from the forward.
15’ JANJETOVIC SAVE – Roux crosses from the right hand side and the ball evades Calver at the back post for Cernak to fire at point blank range but Janjetovic spreads himself to block.
28’ FITZGERALD MISS – Ferreira gets behind the Sydney FC left back and crosses to Fitzgerald who side foots wide from 6 yards.
32’ DIMITRIJEVIC FREE KICK – A curling right footed free kick from 25 yards is heading for the top right hand corner of the Mariners net before Reddy gets a touch to push it wide.
50’ JANKO HEADER – Terry Antonis bursts into the box and crosses. The ball pops up at the right height for Janko but the Austrian guides his header over the bar.
52’ JANJETOVIC SAVE – Ferreira gets inside the full back and clear on goal but Janjetovic is down low to save his shot when faced with a one on one.
55’ JANKO SHOT SAVED – A one two between Gersbach and Antonis on the left flank allows the full back to get to the byline and cross to Janko at the far post and the big striker hits a powerful shot which Reddy saves.
75’ NAUMOFF SHOT SAVED – Smeltz plays in Naumoff and the striker hits a left foot shot which Reddy parries wide.
Team News
Sydney FC 4 (Janko 13’, 92’, Grant 67’, Smeltz 81’) beat Central Coast Mariners 2 (Ferreira 45’+1’, 58’).
Graham Arnold made three changes to the starting line-up which faced Melbourne Victory seven days previously. Jacques Faty and Nikola Petkovic came back into the centre of the defence at the expense of Seb Ryall and Matt Jurman. Terry Antonis replaced Christopher Naumoff who moved onto the bench alongside Smeltz, Necevski, Jurman and Grant.
Ground: Allianz Stadium
Referee: Matthew Conger
Attendance: 14,239
Sydney FC: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC, 6. Nikola PETKOVIC, 8. Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 11. Bernie IBINI, 14. Alex BROSQUE (9. Shane SMELTZ 70’), 16. Alex GERSBACH, 17. Terry ANTONIS, 21. Marc JANKO, 25. Aaron CALVER (23. Rhyan GRANT 54’), 26. Jacques FATY, 27. Mickael TAVARES (13. Christopher NAUMOFF 58’).
Subs Not Used: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI, 5. Matt JURMAN.
Yellow cards: Janko 62’,
Red cards: None.
Central Coast Mariners: 12. Liam REDDY, 2. Storm ROUX, 3. Josh ROSE, 4. Jacob POSCOLIERO, 5. Zac ANDERSON, 8. Nick MONTGOMERY (20. Anthony KALIK 83’), 10. Anthony CACERES, 11. Nick FITZGERALD, 16. Liam ROSE (7. John HUTCHINSON 66’), 23. Isaac CERNAK, 26. Fabio FERREIRA (14. Travis MAJOR 76’).
Subs Not Used: 1. Matthew NASH, 18. Glen TRIFIRO.
Yellow cards: Anderson 35’, Montgomery 39’, Liam Rose 63’, Poscoliero 64’, Hutchinson 85’.
Red cards: None.
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