Sydney FC turned on the style with an Alex Brosque-inspired 3-1 romp over Wellington Phoenix at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday to maintain top spot on the A-League ladder.
Brosque had a hand in all of his side’s in a 20-minute first-half blitz as the New Zealand side came back to earth with a thud following last weekend’s 6-0 home thumping of Gold Coast.
The man of the match was unstoppable in the opening half and strike partner Mark Bridge produced a double before being substituted in the 53rd minute.
Steve Corica was the home side’s other goalscorer while the Phoenix’s Costa Barbarouses found the back of the net late in the match.
The visitors battled in the opening minutes just to stay on the park before being shredded by the Sky Blues.
Daniel’s left shoulder popped out in the first minute and it took two minutes on the sidelines for medical staff to put it back in.
Wellington goalkeeper Mark Paston was then hit by friendly fire in the fifth minute, colliding with teammate Paul Ifill going for the ball, and he was replaced by Reece Crowther two minutes later.
The scoreboard pain came in the 15th minute when Brosque’s clever little chip opened up enough space for Bridge to blast home.
The home side continued to open up the visitors and, in the 31st minute after a length of the field movement, Crowther could only manage to parry Brosque’s left-foot strike and Corica tapped in from close range.
Brosque continued to torment defenders with his pace, burning off Ben Sigmund down the left side four minutes later before delivering a pinpoint pass for the simplest of goals, Bridge’s second.
With a 3-0 halftime score, Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka replaced Bridge with John Aloisi coming on early in the second half in front of a crowd of 10,653.
The visitors looked to be finding their way back when referee Gerard Parsons awarded a penalty in the 60th minute after Sydney FC defender Simon Colosimo tangled with big Phoenix striker Ifill in the area.
However it was not to be.
Daniel stepped up and slotted the first penalty opportunity only to be called back for Phoenix players encroaching on the area.
The Brazilian’s second effort was a fairly limp one with goalkeeper Clint Bolton easily stopping the shot low to his left.
Sydney almost added to the visiting side’s frustrations seconds later, only for Aloisi to fail to get on the end of a teasing cross.
The former Socceroos marksman had more frustration in the 72nd minute with his left foot strike coming back off the post before Barbarouses put the ball beyond Bolton’s grasp in the 81st minute.
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