A League 2015/16 - Week 4 Review

This week’s opener was provided by Melbourne City and Newcastle Jets at Aami Park who gave us the perfect example of a game of two halves.

Melbourne City 2 - 3 Newcastle Jets

City opened like a force of nature and should have taken the lead in just the third minute when Bruno Fornaroli headed wide from close range when he should have at least worked Mark Birighitti in the Jets goal.

The opener wasn’t long coming though, and yet again it was their star midfielder Aaron Mooy who provided it in the twelfth minute. Taking possession on the edge of the box he neatly turned to create space before shooting for goal, unfortunately for Birighitti the ball changed course due to a deflection and left him flat footed and helpless.

Ten minutes later the home team notched their second through Stefan Mauk and it was all down to his energentic drive to get forward from his own half. Firstly he played a one two with Ben Garuccio in his own half to allow him to progress deep into Jets territory, then he repeated the trick with David Williams to give him a sight of goal from inside the box.

Lightning struck twice as his effort was deflected into the goal to give City a 2-0 lead. Williams went close on the half hour mark after an exchange of passes with Mooy but he drove just wide of the post.

Maybe City thought they had completed the task or maybe the much fabled managerial rocket from Jets coach Scott Miller at half time did the trick but the second half was a very different picture.

Jets clawed a goal back in the fifty eighth minute through defensive midfielder Ben Kantarovski, Mateo Poljak was given the freedom of the park down the right and he lifted a perfect ball in to the centre for Kantarovski to nod accurately home.

The visitors got on level terms in the seventy fourth minute, Jason Hoffman crossed from the left and saw the sliding Wade Dekker intercept, unfortunately for Dekker the assistant ref decided the attacker had used his hand to control the ball and alerted the ref to award a penalty.

It was one of those ball to hand or hand to ball decisions that could go either way, regardless of the arguments Milos Trifunovic stroked home the spot kick and all the momentum was now with the New South Wales team.

As crucial as Mooy has been to City over the course of the last twelve months the resurgence of David Carney for the Jets this season has been possibly more spectacular. Unwanted last season to being pivotal this and he provided the free kick delivery that allowed Trifunovic to climb above Mooy and head home the winner in the seventy ninth minute.

So Jets climb to the top of the table which after last season’s performance is nose bleed territory while City have four points from four games and will be targeting their next game against Adelaide United as a must win affair.

Central Coast Mariners 1 – 3 Sydney FC

Next up Sydney FC took a spin up the road to Central Coast Mariners where ten thousand populated Central Coast Stadium to witness the spectacle.

The home team had the first chance when Fabio Ferreira split the visitors defence to see Irishman Roy O’Donovan race through one on one with only Vedran Janjetovic to beat, sadly he lifted the ball over the keeper but also over the bar to waste the chance.

Six minutes later O’Donovan had another effort to break the deadlock. Mariners were given a free kick some twenty yards from goal the convoluted four man routine saw Anthony Caceres shoot for goal, O’Donovan stuck a boot in the way but didn’t get enough purchase to divert it past the keeper.

Eight minutes later Sydney took the lead, Alex Brosque broke in to the right hand side of the box and laid a chance on a plate for Shane Smeltz ten yards out, the Kiwi striker gleefully despatched to the roof of the net for his first goal this season. Mariners equalised just a minute later, Ferreira tore down the right wing leaving Sydney players in his wake before squaring to O’Donovan to knock home from six yards.

The game swung on the next two incidents both of which went against the Mariners. First on thirty eight minutes O’Donovan found himself in behind the Sydney backline again, as he rounded Janjetovic he was brought down for a penalty that couldn’t have been more stonewall if it had been made of pieces of granite arranged into a wall shape, however the referee Adam Fielding waved play on content that it wasn’t a foul.

Five minutes later Nick Fitzgerald was shown his second yellow and thus Mariners faced the entire second half a man down.

In the sixty third minute Mitch Austin showed that Mariners weren’t willing to lay down in the face of such perceived injustices and set off on a lung bursting run from midway through his own half to the edge of the Sydney box sadly his effort on goal lacked any venom.

Sydney made their extra man count a minute later to give Brosque a sight of goal from twenty yards, Paul Izzo was equal to the task conceding a corner. Five minutes later the visitors came knocking again when Andrew Hoole released a right foot effort from twenty yards that bounced just before Izzo to rebound from him, Smeltz reacted first but knocked the chance over the bar from just eight yards.

Sydney went ahead in the eighty second minute when Filip Holosko broke away down the right just as Ferreira had in the first half for Mariners. He drew the cover before squaring to ex Mariner Matt Simon who despatched to the top corner from twelve yards.

The returning hero come villain made the result safe in the eighty eighth minute, this time Mickael Tavares broke away down the right before crossing to Simon who headed powerfully home from around the penalty spot.

Sydney remain unbeaten and practically unbeatable on the road as they sit around the top of the ladder, the attack minded Mariners are still providing entertainment aplenty but aren’t going to garner many points unless they tighten up.

Brisbane Roar 3 – 0 Adelaide United

This season’s surprise package have been Brisbane Roar and they played host to Adelaide United at Suncorp Stadium before ten thousand fans, they ran out 3-0 winners to keep their shock team status in place.

Full of confidence the Queenslanders started brightly in the eighth minute Dimitri Petratos teed up Jamie Maclaren at the far post but he sent his header wide. Not to be denied they went ahead in the ninth minute, Matt Mackay played a sublime switch ball to the left for Thomas Broich who crossed to the far post for Brandon Borrello to slot home neatly from eight yards out.

Adelaide weathered the storm until the thirty second minute when Broich split the home defence to find Maclaren on the penalty spot, John Hall spread himself to block the shot away with his chest.

The Reds fashioned a chance of their own five minutes before the interval, Marcelo Carrusca played in Craig Goodwin down the left, he made tracks in to the box and pulled the ball back on to his right to shoot from eight yards.

Sadly for him the effort was straight at Jamie Young who clung on to the fiercely struck shot. In the first minute of added time at the end of the first half Tarek Elrich performed exactly the same manoeuvre but placed him shot across goal and agonisingly wide of the far post.

The travelling South Australians had another chance to get on level terms in the fifty seventh minute, Sergio Cirio got on the end of a long ball over the top but saw Young deflect his effort on to the roof of the net.

The Roar went even closer on sixty four minutes Broich released Maclaren in to the box and his rasping effort came back off the underside of the bar with Hall well beaten. Adelaide responded immediately with Cirio escaping down the right before pulling the ball back to Isaias fifteen yards out but he scooped well over.

Four minutes after that Elrich chested a pass down to burst in to the box only to see Young get down at his feet and knock the ball clear. McKay called Hall into action in the seventy seventh minute with a strongly hit drive from nearly thirty yards, the Reds keeper finger tipped the ball away for a corner. Steven Lustica threatened a minute later when he shot across the face of goal and wide of the far post from the right hand corner of the box. The goal that Brisbane had been threatening arrived a minute later, Maclaren managed to get past Elrich with sheer persistence, he then cut back on to his left foot before curling past Hall low to the far side netting from twelve yards.

Brisbane stitched up the result in the ninety second minute McKay was central to it again, he played Borrello in behind the Reds backline and the young wideman finished with confidence from the edge of the box. Roar sit second in the ladder and although this result flattered them a little they do look potent in front of goal. Adelaide are the polar opposite and look as if they would struggle to hit the hind quarters of a donkey with a banjo from close range.

Western Sydney Wanderers 1 – 0 Perth Glory

Perth Glory went coast to coast to come calling on Western Sydney Wanderers at Pirtek Stadium, fourteen thousand hardy souls braved the rainy conditions to see the home team notch their first of the season.

The Westerners set up with a very defensive formation and managed to keep Wanderers chances to a minimum for most of the first half. Federico Piovaccari pulled a ball back to Dario Vidosic who hit a thundering drive from the edge of the box only to see it deflected off target for a corner.

The only other chance of note didn’t arrive until the forty second minute when Scott Neville burst in to the box but saw his low cross deflected on to the bar possibly by Piovaccari and away to safety. On the cusp of half time Wanderers pressure finally told, a corner from the right wasn’t cleared and eventually ended up at the feet of Vidosic on the edge of the box, he quickly transferred the ball to his right foot to lose Richard Garcia and slammed home to the bottom left corner.

Three minutes in to the second period Sidnei hammered a low shot in from distance but his effort was just the wrong side of the post. In the sixty fourth minute Mark Bridge tested ex Wanderers keeper Ante Covic from twenty five yards with the keeper spilling the shot and thankful to see it cleared away at the expense of a corner.

Nebjosa Marinkovic drove narrowly wide from thirty yards for the visitors in the seventy minute mark and that was as close as Glory came to getting back on level terms. Wanderers will be pleased to ease the pressure on them with their first win this season while Glory trek back home empty handed again.

Melbourne Victory 3 – 0 Wellington Phoenix

Rounding off the weekends entertainment we had Melbourne Victory hosting Wellington Phoenix at Etihad Stadium with just under twenty five thousand looking on. Victory took the spoils with a 3-0 win and are beginning to find their groove this season.

Phoenix created the first chance of the game in the third minute when Ben Sigmund sent the nippy Roy Krishna in behind the Victory defence, as the Fijian striker prepared to shoot from a tight angle on the right of goal Daniel Georgievski got back to wrap a foot around the striker and nip the ball away. Victory were more clinical in the tenth minute when Besart Berisha opened the scoring.

A block tackle in the right back position, probably by Jason Geria resulted in the ball ricocheting down the right to allow Kosta Barbarouses and Fahid Ben Khalfallah to combine, when they lost the ball Oliver Bozanic won the ball back and fed Gui Finkler. The Brazillian play maker found Berisha in the inside left slot, the Albanian striker switched feet to create a yard of space before passing the ball to the net from ten yards.

Sigmund again tried to get an assist in the nineteenth minute with a ball over the top into the outside right channel, it looked a lost cause when Danny Vokovic came out of his box to clear but Krishna nipped in to steal the ball and progress toward the goal, unfortunately he dithered and allowed Vukovic to get back and tap the ball away to clear the chance.

Victory heeded the warning to threaten the Nix goal twice in two minutes. First in the twenty first minute Finkler created space for Gerogievski but his effort was straight at Glen Moss and a minute later Barbarouses played Finkler in to space in the inside right position, his pin point return ball cross was headed down by Barbarouses but struck Sigmund on the heel and somehow bounced up over the bar with Moss beaten all ends up.

Just two minutes later Nix should have been on level terms when the prominent Sigmund powered an eight yard header straight at Vukovic following a Roly Bonevacia corner from the right. The focus shifted to the other end six minutes later Berisha used his strength to turn Sigmund from a Georgievski throw in, his pull back to Bozanic on the penalty spot saw the midfielders on target effort deflected wide by Vince Lia.

In the thirty ninth minute Krishna found himself behind the Victory backline yet again, Jeffrey Sarpong split the rearguard but as Krishna rounded Vukovic Carl Valeri got back to get a vital foot in and clear.

Victory stitched up the game in the fifty fifth minute, Georgievski tried to find Berisha in the middle but the ball broke out toward the right hand touchline. Barbarouses rescued the ball and cut in to the Nix box before firing in an attempted low centre which glanced off Andrew Durante to beat Moss at his near post.

It got even worse for the visitors six minutes later, two Phoenix players competed for the same header in midfield and only succeeded in freeing Barbarouses, he sent Berisha in one on one with Moss and although he went down while trying to round the keeper he maintained his composure to hook the ball home from ten yards while prone on the ground.

They should have notched a fourth goal in the sixty fifth minute Barbarouses broke in to the box from the left and with Berisha and Ben Khalfallah both waiting on the edge of the six yard box for a tap in he smacked his shot straight at Moss from eight yards to see the chance lost.

The Kiwi visitors had their last chance in the sixty seventh minute when Michael McGlinchey tried his luck with a free kick from outside the box but he saw Vukovic tip the effort over.

Ominously Victory seem to be getting in to their stride which can only be bad news for the rest of the league while Phoenix have yet to hit the highs of last season and see their very existence being threatened by the FFA who have turned their application for a ten year licence down.

This weekend’s coming fixtures

Adelaide United v Melbourne City

Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar

Western Sydney Wanderers v Newcastle Jets

Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix

FFA Cup final

Melbourne Victory v Perth Glory