Entries Tagged 'Sydney FC' ↓

It started badly. A strike in the 30th second from Shannon Cole; another one from Brendan Gan three minutes later. Sydney 2-0 up.

But that just set the stage for one of the greatest comebacks in Melbourne’s history. Sydney may feel robbed, but Melbourne absolutely deserved the three points.

The turning point? This, undoubtedly:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTsb4315GVU[/youtube]

Melbourne played with an intensity we rarely see. For once, Merrick’s substitutions had the desired impact, as the fresh legs of Ney Fabiano, Matthew Kemp and Nick Ward tore Sydney apart. Ward’s goal will deservedly go down in MVFC history as one of our finest, but Fabiano had a bigger impact. Here is a striker who can run at players, cross the ball and hold it. Three weeks in a row, he has come off the bench and scored. The only question is whether to keep him as an impact substitute, or give him a start.

While it’s hard to feel anything but euphoric about the game, two things bothered me: Melbourne’s habit of dropping intensity and giving up possession far too easily when it takes the lead; and Kevin Muscat, who just about made me have a heart attack with his antics in front of the Melbourne goal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhqhE_7eT0k[/youtube]

Queensland Roar won its game against Wellington Phoenix, meaning we’re still in third place. In fact, all the top 4 sides won their matches, so the standings remain exactly as they were last week. With back-to-back matches against Queensland Roar and Adelaide United coming up, it’s well and truly make-or-break time.

After three disastrous away games, the Melbourne Victory returns home for its round 17 clash against Sydney FC. Sydney’s recent form has also been far from spectacular, with a devastating 4-1 loss against the Perth Glory last week forcing Sydney down another notch on the ladder. Melbourne didn’t do much better against the Newcastle Jets, finishing 4-2.

Melbourne and Sydney: two out of form sides who both desperately need a win. Sound familiar?

Hoping to spark his team, Ernie Merrick appears keen on shifting Kevin Muscat into midfield, paving the way for Sebastian Ryall to perhaps enter the squad. It may not be such a bad move: Muscat has made some uncharacteristic – but severe – errors in defence this year, and a central role should allow him to focus on leading the team through the middle. Muscat’s tenacity and physical style may complement Jose Luis Lopez’ more fluid abilities.

The round 9 incarnation of this fixture ended in a 0-2 win for Sydney FC, which saw Melbourne tumble down to third. A loss this week could be far more disastrous, with the Central Coast Mariners (4th), Wellington Phoenix (5th) and Sydney FC (6th) all able to overtake it on the ladder. Granted, Melbourne has a game in hand, but dropping from the top 4 would be a terrible psychological blow at this point of the season.

But Sydney’s poor form gives some cause for optimism. John Aloisi has only scored once since opening his scoring account in the round 9 fixture, and made a mess of a few sitters last week. There’s plenty of pressure on him to step up, and John Kosmina must be awfully close to having his contract suspended. Let’s hope we show him the door.

My tips for the weekend:

• Newcastle Jets to lose to Central Coast Mariners: The Mariners lost a critical game against Wellington last week, while the Jets sliced right through Melbourne. But this week I’m tipping a reversal of fortunes for both sides.  
• Perth Glory to beat Adelaide United: There’s no small measure of optimism to this tip. A solid win last week for Perth, but this game against Adelaide is going to be huge. I’m foreseeing lots of goals ending in a narrow victory for the hosts.
• Melbourne Victory to make a mockery of Sydney FC: Unlike some people, I can’t tip against my own team. One of these two sides is going to end its drought, and I reckon Melbourne can do it – and exact their revenge on Sydney for that round 9 loss.
• Queensland Roar to beat Wellington Phoenix: Queensland have surged to second place, while the Phoenix have worked themselves to the edge of the four. Expect a game with plenty of fireworks, but a win for the hosts.

The Melbourne Victory have dropped to third after losing 2-0 at home to Sydney FC on Saturday night. Adelaide United scored a 2-1 win over the Perth Glory to take the lead at the top of the table, two points above Sydney and three above Melbourne.

It was another poor performance from Melbourne. The short passes weren’t coming off, while the long balls were too predictable and seldom gave rise to genuine opportunities. In one word: stale.

The absence of Archie Thompson certainly played a part. Archie and Carlos Hernández combine effectively up front, helping to solidify the connection between midfield and attack. With Archie suspended and Hernández shifted into a striking role, that link in the chain was broken. Merrick has been keen to use the 4-3-3 this season, but in this case a 4-4-2 – with Hernández sitting behind Tom Pondeljak and Danny Allsopp – may have been more effective.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76ZOb50PaEU[/youtube]

***

On Friday night, the Central Coast Mariners pulled off a 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets, while the Queensland Roar picked up a 1-0 win on the road over the Wellington Phoenix.

Two out-of-form sides meet each other tomorrow night at the Telstra Dome, in what is a key match for both of them.

Both the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC have won one, lost two and drawn one of their last four games. And both will be missing key players tomorrow night. Melbourne are without Archie Thompson and Ney Fabiano (suspended), and will likely miss Nick Ward due to injury. Sydney’s problems are in defence, with Iain Fyfe suspended and Tony Popovic, Simon Colosimo and Jacob Timpano all injured. Alex Brosque is also injured.

So we have a side missing key strikers facing a side missing key defenders. Did I hear someone say a nil-nil draw?

Don’t laugh, it’s quite likely. The last three clashes between these sides have ended in a draw – twice a goal-less draw. Incidentally, all three of those games were during John Kosmina’s reign.

My tips for the weekend:

• Central Coast Mariners to lose to Newcastle Jets. If Newcastle can maintain the form they produced against Melbourne last week, they can certainly beat a Central Coast side that lost at home to the Wellington Phoenix last week.
• Melbourne Victory to finish with 11 men and beat Sydney FC. A draw may be likely, statistically speaking, but if Melbourne can hang on to their 11 men for the duration of the match, I think we can bring this run of draws to an end.
• Adelaide United to beat Perth Glory. Perth produced a good game last week to beat Sydney, but Adelaide are on an incredible roll at the moment. Perth stand a chance if they can take advantage of tired United legs.
• Wellington Phoenix to beat Queensland Roar. This is a critical game for both sides, as they’re perched just below the top four. With home crowd advantage and some good recent form, I think the Phoenix can steal the show.

Sydney FC’s Clint Bolton stopped shots from Ney Fabiano, Danny Allsopp and Jose Luis Lopez to give Sydney a 0-0 scoreline against the Melbourne Victory.

Melbourne were favourites to win the clash, with Sydney missing a host of players including John Aloisi and Alex Brosque. Young Chris Payne made his debút as a lone striker, but struggled to have any real impact.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOrh8InZ3k4[/youtube]

For most of the game, it was Melbourne who were doing the attacking, and they were looking good – bar the final third. Lopez formed a clear bridge between defence and attack, scooping up balls at the back and feeding them forwards. With Lopez leading the way, the Victory attacked with purpose and fluidity, always through the midfield. I was surprised to see Michael Thwaite pushing up and creating width, but he did it to great effect.

While the movement forwards was very encouraging, Melbourne’s inability to finish chances is concerning. In the Pre-Season Cup, the Victory only managed to score three goals. Against Sydney, Fabiano and Allsopp both had excellent chances, as did Lopez, but Clint Bolton was there to stop them every time. Sydney’s keeper had a great night between the sticks.

Meanwhile, the Jets-Mariners clash on Friday night and the Phoenix-Roar game on Sunday both ended in 1-1 draws. Adelaide United has taken the lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win over the Perth Glory. From memory, this is the first time Adelaide has been at the top of the table since season 1, when it spent almost the entire season up there.

Sydney FC 2, Melbourne Victory 2

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVRERdAuK7I[/youtube] Continue reading →

The Newcastle Jets’ 2-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners may have put an end to the Melbourne Victory’s slim hope of reaching the finals, but that’s not to say that the Victory have nothing to play for in Sunday’s match against Sydney FC.

Honour is a powerful motivation – especially when it comes to the firmly embedded Melbourne – Sydney rivalry.

And, to a lesser extent, there’s also honour in finishing 5th – rather than 6th.

Continue reading →

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKkrxNGODkc[/youtube]

I’m not usually one to post non-Victory matches here, but this one deserves to be watched. Check out the Football Tragic for the match review.

With the A-League starting its final 7 rounds this week, it’s a good time to take a look at how Melbourne’s fate is panning out alongside its competitors. I’ve heard plenty of pessimistic talk from Melbourne fans recently, but a cursory look at how other teams are performing should give Victory supporters plenty of cause for hope.

It’s a very tight league.

1. Central Coast Mariners
Four points separate Central Coast from the Queensland Roar. It’s a strong, but breakable, lead. From a strictly statistical point of view, the Mariners’ strength has been their defense, which has let through only 9 goals this season. But with strikers like John Aloisi and Sasho Petrovski, and scoring midfielders like Tom Pondeljak, Adam Kwasnik and John Hutchinson, opposition teams will have their work cut for them all across the park. The Mariners are a lethal team at the moment and I would not bet against them finishing top of the ladder. Continue reading →

Melbourne Victory 0, Sydney FC 0

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-XysLyvprU[/youtube]