A blistering two goal burst at the start of the second half from Sydney FC Young Guns Terry Antonis and Blake Powell has given Sky Blues a 2-1 win over Adelaide tonight at Allianz Stadium.
A blistering two goal burst at the start of the second half from Sydney FC Young Guns Terry Antonis and Blake Powell has given Sky Blues a 2-1 win over Adelaide tonight at Allianz Stadium.
In front of 15,602 passionate supporters, Antonis- first career goal and Powell-s third of the season shot Sydney into fifth position on the ladder, in the process securing a club record fifth consecutive home win.
After dominating the match, the home side were made to work hard for the points in the last ten minutes after a late riposte from Tomi Juric allowed Adelaide United a sniff of an unlikely draw.
Sydney won the crucial midfield battle through Antonis, Terry McFlynn, Rhyan Grant and Alessandro Del Piero but credit must also go to Tiago Calvano, who was rock solid in defence.
Coach Frank Farina was forced to make two changes from last week-s victorious side against the Roar. Terry Antonis and Terry McFlynn were handed starts in place of the suspended Brett Emerton and Ali Abbas.
The match started with both teams happy to hold possession although it was Sydney FC that tried to assert some dominance with Adelaide content to sit and hit on the counter attack.
After many fruitful raids last week, it was no surprise to see the Sky Blues left flank create the first chance of the match, with Fabio the architect. The Brazilian rode a rough challenge from Osama Malik before sliding in a low cross to the near cross where Powell saw his first time shot blocked.
After 20 minutes Del Piero received a free kick right on the edge of the box. Whilst he saw the effort blocked, it proved the catalyst to for a spell of dominance for the home side, with long range shots the order of the day.
Antonis and McFlynn both tried their luck, with the former coming closest with a brilliant volley just going the wrong side of the post.
On 27 minutes Sydney should have hit the front through Grant. Playing wide left Grant cut inside with a surging run only to see his initial effort blocked. Reacting well, he picked up the crumbs and with the goal gaping placed his shot too close to Adelaide keeper- Eugene Galekovic.
Sydney would have been disappointed to be level at half time after being the better side, but nearly fell behind in the dying seconds of the half. Carrusca made a good run down the left flank and his deep cross looked set to be met by Dario Vidosic, only for Grant to pop up with an outstanding defensive header.
Sydney looked to get an advantage right form the get go in the second half as they came out of the blocks on fire.
Del Piero saw an excellent 30m free kick dip and swerve past Galekovic, only to see the ball hit the base of the left upright and ricochet out off the Adelaide custodian.
With the home fans baying for blood Antonis saluted, albeit with the help of a deflection. Half time substitute Paul Reid found the midfielder, who cut infield and powered a left foot shot into Iain Fyfe leaving the ball to nestle in the bottom right corner past a stranded Galekovic.
Looking for a quick reply Dario Vidosic tried to emulate the Del Piero set piece from minutes before but saw his effort easily saved by Vedran Janjetovic.
Realising the danger the away side possessed, the Sky Blues pushed hard for a second goal peppering Galekovic at will.
Ryall was the first to try his luck going on a surging run only to hit an effort straight at the keeper- with Reid seeing a shot fly wide barely minutes later.
On sixty minutes Galekovic must have been thinking it was Groundhog Day as Del Piero lined up another free kick from the exact spot he tried his luck 15 minutes earlier. This time the Italian looked on in vein as his attempt rolled just wide of the right hand post.
Whilst Del Piero couldn-t score himself he provided the vital corner that saw Sydney score the vital second goal. The Italians- out swinging corner from the right hand side was met by Adam Griffiths at the near post whose flick on was bundled home by Powell much to the delight of The Cove.
Not content with the assist, Del Piero again attempted some set piece magic, only to see Galekovic up to the challenge with a strong save.
From the ensuing goal kick Adelaide found a lifeline into the match. Debutant Juric was found by Galekovic and sprinted clear of the Sydney defence finishing powerfully past Janjetovic.
Despite some late nerves Sydney held on for the deserved three points, maintaining the late challenge for a top four position.
Sydney FC now has back to back away matches against Melbourne Heart (February 24) and Perth Glory (March 2) before returning to Allianz Stadium on March 9 to face the Central Coast Mariners.
Sydney FC 2 (Terry Antonis 49-, Blake Powell 67-) d Adelaide United 1 (Tomi Juric 78-)
Allianz Stadium
Crowd: 15, 602
Referee: Strebre DELOVSKI
Sydney FC: 20. Vedran JANJETOVIC (GK), 2. Sebastian RYALL, 3. FABIO, 8. Adam GRIFFITHS, 10. Alessandro DEL PIERO, 12. Blake POWELL (16. Joel CHIANESE 76-), 13. Tiago CALVANO, 15. Terry McFLYNN, 17. Terry ANTONIS, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 26. Peter TRIANTIS (9. Paul REID 46-).
Subs not used: 1. Ivan NECEVSKI (GK), 18. Trent MCCLENAHAN
Yellow Cards: Terry McFLYNN 68-
Adelaide United: 1. Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK), 2. Osama MALIK, 3. Nigel BOOGAARD, 4. Jonathan MCKAIN( 14. Cameron WATSON 62-), 5. Iain FYFE, 8. Marcelo CARRUSCA, 10 Dario VIDOSIC, 12. Antony GOLEC, 16. Daniel BOWLES (18. Fabian BARBIERO 67-), 17. Iain RAMSEY (25. Tomi JURIC 76-), 21. Jeronimo NEUMANN.
Sub not used: 20. Paul IZZO (GK)
Yellow Cards: Anthony GOLEC 59-, Iain FYFE 83-, Michael CARRUSCA 84-
