A League - Week 12 Review

St Stephens’s Day entertainment opened up with Melbourne City taking on league leaders Perth Glory at Aami Park, it ended all square with a 1-1 draw.

The first half was scrappy to say the least with City slightly holding the upper hand but neither side creating much of a clear cut nature. City didn’t take long though to open the scoring in the second period. In the forty ninth minute David Williams did well to initially hold up the ball and then turn and make headway to the Glory goal, he slipped a well weighted ball to Aaron Mooy in the inside left channel who finished expertly to score his second goal in three games.

Perth managed to get back on level terms thirteen minutes later with their first effort on target when a low free kick from Scott Jamieson was headed down by Richard Garcia into the turf and past Tando Velaphi in the City goal. City huffed and puffed and put the Glory goal under pressure but couldn’t find a winner in the remaining minutes. The point temporarily took Perth seven points clear at the top.

The second match of the day gave us Sydney FC versus Adelaide United and much the same as the previous week a promising first half performance from Sydney was unrewarded and their opposition made them pay dearly in the second period.

Adelaide went one better than Wellington the previous week and rolled three unanswered goals past the Sky Blues. The first Reds goal on sixty seven minutes had a touch of fortune about it, Marcello Carrusca got in behind the Sydney rear-guard, forced wide right to round the keeper he crossed to the six yard box where Seb Ryall ricocheted his clearance off of Bruce Djite and into the net.

No claim of luck could be made about the second in the eighty first minute as Adelaide cleaved their opponents apart with beautiful football. Awer Mabil fed Pablo Sanchez who released Jimmy Jeggo down the right, his cross to around the penalty spot was met perfectly by Sanchez to direct it to the top corner beyond the reach of Vedran Janjetovic.

The third came along in the ninety first minute when Jeggo released Sergio Cirio down the left he squared to the unattended Mabil who had the easy task of slotting to the empty net. Adelaide took second spot with the win and closed their gap to Perth to six points.

Two of the leagues struggling teams produced an absolute belter of a game on Saturday when Central Coast Mariners played host to Brisbane Roar, the game ended 3-3 after a second half that looked like neither side knew how to claim the three points.

Roar claimed the opening goal with the last meaningful act of a poor first half, the influential Steven Lustica had a drive deflected into the path of Jean Carlos Solarzano and the Costa Rican striker showed good nerve and control to beat the challenge of Josh Rose before finishing past Liam Reddy. Little did we suspect the fireworks that the second half was to bring.

Mariners got back on level terms in the fifty seventh minute when Anthony Caceres retrieved a corner to swing in a left wing cross to the unmarked head of Eddy Bosnar. The Mariners shocked the Roar when they took the lead six minutes later, Jamie Young produced a double save to deny both Nick Fitzgerald and Mitchell Duke however the loose ball ran to Matt Simon to score from close range with his third goal in as many weeks. Roar levelled eight minutes later when a corner from the right found the largely unattended James Donachie at the far post, his header hit the back of the wonderfully monikered Storm Roux and the change in flight path left Liam Reddy flat footed.

The Mariners came roaring back if you’ll pardon the pun and retook the lead on eighty minutes. Mitchell Duke made a great run through midfield and slipped Matt Simon into the clear in the inside left channel his effort was parried by Young into the path of Seung Yong Kim who struck home on the half volley.

No sooner had the home fans cheers died down when Roar levelled again, Danny Bowles produced a peach of a cross from the right along the six yard box line at pace to find Solarzano who applied the finishing touch. Mariners still had time to nearly snatch the winner when the impressive Duke saw his looped effort deflected away from goal and out for a corner by the head of back tracking defender Donachie.

The point does neither side many favours but the respective head coaches will find many attacking positives to take from the second half, don’t mention the defensive negatives it is un-Australian to do so.

Melbourne Victory regained second place on the ladder and cut the gap to Perth Glory to four points with a 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets at Aami Stadium before twenty thousand supporters. Newcastle arrived with a game plan to frustrate their hosts with a packed midfield and came so close to collecting the point they so desperately desired.

The first quarter of the game was entirely dominated by Victory and it looked like Newcastle would do well to survive the trip without being on the end of a drubbing. However survive they did and they made it to half time on level terms. Fahid Ben Khalfallah had a great game for Victory and constantly posed problems to the Jets defence, he came close to opening the scoring when he struck the bar in the early in the second half.

As the half wore on the Jets grew into the game and without creating anything clear cut they did at least get a greater share of possession to give their fans hope of a point. The winner eventually did come for the home team on eighty five minutes when the Brazilian playmaker Gui Finkler absolutely leathered a free kick from the edge of the box around the wall and into the far corner past the startled Ben Kennedy in the Jets goal. Jets nearly got back to parity with the last kick of the game when efforts first from Geronimo and then Scott Neville were kept out by Nathan Coe in the Victory goal.

Wellington Phoenix kept up their great form with a scrappy “ugly” 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers. The goal coming from a fourteenth minute debatable penalty awarded to and successfully taken by Fijian winger Roy Krishna, it was his fifth goal of the season all coming in the last six matches.

Wanderers had plenty of possession and efforts and would have been good value for a point but when you are bottom of the league Lady Luck tends not to smile upon you and she has certainly turned her back on the team from Parramatta. Wellington have secured fourth spot on the ladder and have opened up a five point gap over Sydney FC in fifth place. Meanwhile Wanderers remain winless and remain well and truly rooted to the bottom of the table.

What have we learned?

Sometimes the most entertaining games are provided by desperate teams who are out of form but need points as evidenced by the Mariners and Roar this week.

This week’s fixtures

Newcastle Jets v Melbourne City

Brisbane Roar v Sydney FC

Adelaide Utd v Wellington Phoenix

Western Sydney Wanderers v Central Coast Mariners

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory