A ten year old rivalry continues tonight as two high flying, but stalling sides face off, with Sydney FC hosting Adelaide United. Join The Roar from 7.40pm AEDT to follow all of the action and live scores as it happens under the Sky Blue of Allianz Stadium.
Sydney FC are winless from their past four matches after drawing with cross-town rivals Western Sydney Wanderers and long time enemy Melbourne Victory, while also succumbing to defeats against table leaders Perth Glory and this seasons surprise packets Wellington Phoenix.
Losing 2-0 last week at home against a Nathan Burns inspired Phoenix side, compounded a horror month for the Sky Blues with injury and poor form recurring issues. Four of FC’s regular first team starters Ognenovski, Gameiro, Abbas and Carle are all facing the rest of the season on the sidelines after picking up serious injuries over the past month.
One bright spot for Sydney is that their strikers are firing with Janko, Smeltz and Ibini all showing glimpses of their best in recent weeks. But a shaky defence can undo all the good work upfront, something FC will need to rectify against an Adelaide side who boast the most shots and shots on target this season in the A-league.
United are however themselves experiencing a tough run of form. Although being crowned the inaugural FFA Cup winners, Adelaide have abandoned early season consistency, having now lost two A-league games in a row. Last week’s performance against Newcastle was a perfect reflection of the form Adelaide now find themselves in.
Dominating the match in terms of possession, they were clueless with the ball favouring long balls over the incisive passing they are renowned for. Lucky to have scored a goal, United then fell victim to their own inability to finish, allowing the Jets to score on the counter and claim all three points.
Adelaide were of course playing their third game in a week and showing how vulnerable the absence of centre back Osama Malik leaves them at the back.
Excuses seem to be two things both Sydney and Adelaide have in common, but that all must change tonight if either hope to push forward with their season.
Although FC are undeniably depleted thanks to a string of season ending injuries, they are boosted by the return of captain Alex Brosque. Something Adelaide are not, with United instead losing midfielder Fabio Ferriera to a hamstring injury during the week. Regardless, success tonight will be crucial and excuses will do nothing to fill the gap a loss will cause in both team’s pursuit of a top three finish.
Sydney FC host Adelaide United in this Friday night, Boxing Day fixture with both teams in rough patches of form but both eager and capable of a top of the table finish. Join us from 7.40pm AEDT and add your voice to the crowd as the Sky Blues face off against the Red heat of Adelaide.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
MATCH REVIEW Sydney FC have slumped to three straight home defeats going down to a second half inspired Adelaide United side 3-0. After a very poor first half for the Reds, Gambou rallied his men, who came out in the second half their usual clinical selves. Djite grabbed the opener after some nice work from Carrusca, before a magnificent header from Sanchez and a tap in from Mabil wrapped things up for United. Sydney FC had their chances and were by no means poor tonight, rather lacking the quality that a win demands. Plagued by injuries, the Sky Blues put in a resilient effort and after controlling the first half were hard done by to concede three in the second 45 minutes. Adelaide were ultimately deserving of the win but the 3-0 scoreline flatters them. The Reds now leap into second on the ladder with third placed Victory yet to play, FC are left in sixth. A return to winning ways for Adelaide tonight while the Sky Blues are left licking their wounds both physical and mental, final score Sydney FC 0 - Adelaide United 3.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90+3' FULL-TIME Sydney lose three consecutive games at home. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 3
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
90' GOAL Mabil snares the Reds third goal. Jeggo cuts a ball through to Cirio who is able to pick out Mabil with a low pass across goal. Mabil then left to just tap it home. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 3
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
89' Ibini draws a free-kick that is ultimately cleared by United. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 2
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
86' Sanchez with a nice through ball to Marrone who swings in a low cross towards Mabil with Ceveski only just able to intercept. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 2
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
81' Sydney look to respond immediately but an Ibini header flashes just wide after some good pressuring by Elrich. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 2
AZ_RBB
Guest
That deserves a standing ovation. Brilliant stuff.
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
GOAL Adelaide grab their second with a beautiful header by Sanchez. Djite finds himself in space, holds the ball up until he finds Sanchez. Sanchez then passes to Jeggo outwide who thens curls in an inch perfect cross back to Sanchez whose header finds the top left corner of goal. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 2
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
78' Antonis with a long rang curling effort for FC. Galekovic only just able to push it wide of the left post after an awkward bounce. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
70' Adelaide in control now with Sydney imitating Adelaide's sloppy first half display. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
69' Mabil is on for Adelaide with Carrusca making way. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
GOAL Adelaide grab the game's first goal through Djite. Carrusca beats the offside trap to cross across goal on a good angle with an attempted Sydney clearance deflected into goal by the looming Djite. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 1
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
65' Adelaide win a corner after some incisive work from Elrich. Cross from Jeggo is flicked by an Adelaide head with no real direction with the ball dribbling wide and allowing FC to regain possession. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
63' Adelaide make thier own switch with Goodwin off for Sanchez. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
61' Gersbach picks up a yellow card for Sydney. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
57' Sydney FC make a substitution with Janko coming off for Triantis, a holding midfielder. Strange choice from Arnold, will it pay off? Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
55' Ibini takes the worng option up front, choosng to shoot from range instead of passing to available team mates. Ibini's shot gets blocked and ultimately saved by Galekovic. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
53' Adelaide linking up alot better so far this half and displaying much more intensity in attack. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
50' Ibini makes a strong diagonal run, finds Brosque down the left who crosses in for Smeltz who can't make contact after Adelaide defender Elrich gets a touch of the ball to take it off course. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0
Joshua Thomas
Roar Guru
47' Goodwin in space down the left passes forward to Djite who finds himself unmarked. Djite manages to get a shot away but the tough angle allows Necevski to make the save. Sydney FC 0 Adelaide United 0