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Last time they met: Sydney FC vs Melbourne Victory recap

Sydney's consistency will deliver them the championship. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Editor
3rd May, 2017
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And then there were two. Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory share a hot rivalry, and once again the ‘Big Blue’ will take centre stage in the grand final.

The light and dark blue have met twice before in grand finals, but neither has felt as big as this one off the back of a mammoth record-breaking season from Sydney.

It’s not past grand finals we want to look at though, we want to look at their recent history, the games that will have the most impact on Sunday’s result.

Let’s have a look at all three meetings between the grand final-bound sides from the 2016/17 season.

Round 5, November 5, 2016 – Sydney 2-1 Melbourne

The context
This was the earliest test of the season for Sydney who had shot out of the gates in the new campaign, piling on goals against hapless opposition for the first month on their way to a four and zip record.

Conversely, Victory had limped a little out of the barrier, finding just the one win among a loss and a draw in the first week, before firing off a blistering 6-1 performance over the Phoenix leading into the trip to Sydney in Round 5.

The goals
Melbourne missed out on two massive chances and might have opened the scoring early on if not for an offside call and a missed a spot kick from Besart Berisha that denied the visitors the lead.

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41’ – Mitch Austin – Victory were rewarded for their early pressure just before the halftime break thanks to a sloppy mistake at the back from Sydney.

Marco Rojas got onto the ball down the right wing just on the edge of the Sydney box, before firing off a low cross into the middle for Austin who was flying through.

A clinical one-touch finish had the home side in shock before hitting the sheds.

Sydney FC's David Carney celebrates

63’ – David Carney – A goal that caused quite a stir and that went a long way to introducing the new goal referral system we see in place now.

When a lobbed cross came into the back of the box, Carney was in an awkward position to take it on the chest, instead, allowing the ball to crash into his left arm before dropping to the ground.

The ref didn’t see it and Carney poked it home to even up the scoreboard.

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79’ – David Carney – The super sub pulled off the match winner and his brace with a ripper strike from the top of the box on the edge of the final ten.

A beautifully placed cross right in line with the middle of goal was finished off superbly by the veteran, hitting it with an open boot into the bottom left corner of goal.

The aftermath
The always fiery Kevin Muscat took straight aim at the refereeing after this one, blaming the Carney ‘non-handball’ as the game-changing moment that cost them the game.

The loss left them hanging mid-table after five rounds in fifth place, not somewhere the Victory wanted or expected to be.

For the Sky Blues, not only did they remain undefeated, but they had won every single game so far, establishing themselves as real title threats ahead of the more-fancied Melbourne City unit.

It would also signal the beginning of a career renaissance of sorts for David Carney after a tough two years at the Jets.

Round 17, January 26, 2017 – Melbourne 1-2 Sydney

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The context
Sydney remained flying high at the top of the standings with an undefeated record coming into the return derby fixture, this time in Melbourne.

Victory had established themselves in second spot by this point in the season with a string of big results throughout the middle portion of the campaign and into the new year.

If the streak was going to be broken, this would have to be it. Against Victory, the second best side in the league, and away from home.

However, the Melbourne side was fresh off a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Perth Glory the week before away from home, while Sydney had just dispatched the defending champs, Adelaide United, in the previous round.

Melbourne was in desperate need of a good result to stay clear of City and Brisbane Roar who were right on their tail, not to mention keep up with the Sky Blues for a chance at top spot.

The goals
18’ – James Troisi – Much like their first encounter, Victory opened the scoring in the first half to take the early lead.

An absolute peach of a curler off the right foot was far too much for Sydney stopper Danny Vukovic to reign in, as the ball whistled from the top of the box into the right corner of goal.

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38’ – Filip Holosko – Sydney weren’t going to lay down for long though, hitting back seven minutes before the halftime interval with a superb dinking header from Holosko.

It was Ninkovic who lobbed a long cross into the box and Holosko was able to outjump his man, just popping the looping header up and over Victory keeper Lawrence Thomas who was just enough off his line for the ball to be out of reach.

Just when it looked the ball was going over, it just dipped back in under the crossbar to level the scoreline.

filip-holosko-sydney-fc-a-league-football-2017

65’ – Bernie Ibini – A superb solo effort from cult hero Bernie Ibini was enough to seal the deal for the Sky Blues early in the second half.

An explosion of pure pace was enough to get him through the line, before some fancy footwork and a beautifully timed cut back got him past the last two defenders.

And it was a polished finish off the right boot around the keeper that got him the goal and, ultimately, his side’s win.

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The aftermath
James Donachie was shown a straight red in the 71st minute for the Victory while his side was chasing the game, a big turning point that threw off any momentum and chance of a comeback.

Two losses in a row for the Victory was a big blow to their Premiers Plate aspirations, despite still having ten rounds to work with, such was the dominance of Sydney on the ladder.

A defeat for Melbourne City that same week had the Victory staying away from their cross-town rivals in the standings, but a win from Brisbane the next day had them sweating about their spot in the top two.

At this point in the season, the talk of an invincibles team was already rampant throughout the footballing community, having gone 17 rounds without a loss.

Round 22, March 3, 2017 – Sydney 1-0 Melbourne

The context
The top two spots had all but been wrapped up for these two leading into Round 22, but Melbourne were still hunting to keep up with the Sky Blues and their slim chances at the Premiers Plate.

Since their last meeting just five weeks earlier, Sydney had finally tasted defeat, at the hands of the Wanderers, and Melbourne had won three and drawn one in an undefeated run of their own.

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Sydney were fresh off a win over City, one that further helped confirm Victory’s top two spot, and were looking to win three games in a row over their blue rivals for the first time ever.

A wet and soggy night greeted them at Allianz, and the result showed.

Milos Ninkovic celebrates for Sydney FC

The goals
50’ – Bobo – After a tough, grinding night in testing conditions that saw both sides create some chances, the Brazilian was finally able to break the deadlock early in the second half.

A failed clearance inside their own box from Melbourne gifted Holosko the pill on the right edge of the penalty area.

With the defence scrambling backwards, a pinpoint cross into the middle past the face of the keeper found Bobo flying through. It wasn’t pretty, but a well-timed lunge was enough to make contact and pop it into an open net for the only goal of the contest.

The aftermath
This was the test for both sides. It was touted as a grand final preview – a claim that has come completely true as the two come together at Allianz in the decider – and the Sky Blues once again were able to get the better of their rivals.

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After over 1,000 days without a Big Blue win, all of a sudden Sydney had a 3-0 season clean sweep of Victory.

The win gave them an 11-point lead over the Melbourne side with just five games to go, and while not mathematically confirming the Premiers Plate, they had proven that they were by far the best side in the league.

It’s fair to say that Sydney have the wood over Melbourne Victory this season, but there’s no point celebrating one game early.

Victory are a big game, big moment, big occasion side and have proven many times in the past they have what it takes to get the job done against the odds.

Sydney will have all the form and confidence in the world coming into the final after their record-breaking season.

Will Sydney make it 4-0 this season and bag the title? Or will the Victory win the one that counts after trailing their arch-rivals all year?

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