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Shut the gate, the horse has bolted. Sydney FC will win the premiership in a canter and they’ll be the first team to go through an A-League season undefeated.
The most impressive aspect of Sydney FC’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory last night was certainly not their performance. It was the fact they found a way to win despite being up against it.
When James Troisi slotted home a textbook counter-attack just before the 20-minute mark, it looked like Victory would be the first team to take the game to the Sky Blues in weeks.
That they duly did – only for Victory to give away a couple of sloppy goals that ultimately cost them.
You simply can’t afford to give players of genuine European pedigree like Milos Ninkovic and Filip Holosko so much time and space, although oddly enough, all the European pedigree in the world will never be enough to make Alan Baro an adequate replacement for Matthieu Delpierre.
When James Donachie found time to get himself sent off with just under 20 minutes remaining, it signalled the end of Victory’s spirited attempt to get the better of their most bitter rival.
Some might argue that Donachie’s dismissal could have gone either way, but in reality his lunging challenge on Alex Brosque was both late and reckless.
If we want our referees to stand tall in key moments, then Jarred Gillett was fully justified in showing Donachie a straight red card.
There was still time for former teammates Danny Vukovic and Besart Berisha to produce a heated exchange at full-time, with Vukovic seemingly accusing Berisha of refusing to shake his hand.
Vukovic said little about the exchange in a post-match interview with Fox Sports, but it’s clear there was no love lost on the night – with Berisha typically niggling throughout the entire proceedings.
It was hardly the greatest advertisement for A-League football, but an Australia Day crowd of 30,000 was decent given the tennis was also on in the city, even if the only fans you could hear inside the ground were visiting supporters.
It’s a shame the North Terrace continues to boycott Victory home games – the resultant atmosphere is dire – and surely the club must sit down at the negotiating table to try and entice their most vociferous fans back.
Mind you, a lack of atmosphere was not the only problem last night, with the pitch best described as diabolical.
The drop-in cricket pitch used for Big Bash League fixtures rendered the playing surface unplayable in parts, with the ball visibly bouncing off the edges of the cricket square.
And while Victory’s long-standing deal to play several games a season at Etihad Stadium might make sense from a commercial perspective, it’s hurting them on the pitch – and arguably at the turnstiles.
AAMI Park is a superior venue in every sense and if Victory had their time again, I wonder if they’d prefer to play only derby games at the larger Etihad Stadium.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC now have ten games in which to avoid defeat and become the first team ever to go through an entire A-League season undefeated.
They have all the tools at their disposal to do it, not least a coaching staff who simply will not allow complacency to set in.
And while several tricky fixtures remain – including another Sydney derby – the Sky Blues will romp home to the Premiers’ Plate even if they lose a game or two from here on in.
That’s bad news for the chasing pack, including a Melbourne City side eager to make up ground on their city rivals as they line up against the Newcastle Jets in Coffs Harbour tonight.
Yet no one will reel in Sydney FC. The season’s most consistent outfit are starting to resemble Ange Postecoglou’s Brisbane Roar of old.
Maybe they’ll become the Invincibles after all.