Sydney FC’s worrying mid-season A-League slump has reached a sixth week as the injury-hit Sky Blues struggled to a scoreless draw against the Brisbane Roar in the Queensland heat.
Played in oppressive conditions on a patchy Suncorp Stadium pitch, neither side thrived in an uninspiring clash that Brisbane mostly controlled but rarely looked like taking.
It left Sydney (18 points) without a win in six rounds, and they are now under pressure from sixth-placed Melbourne City (16) who enjoyed a 5-2 win in Newcastle.
Brisbane (12) are a place further back and again can rue their frustrating lack of polish up front for falling further away from the top six.
The defending champions, sorely missing injured German maestro Thomas Broich, have now gone five matches without a win at home, their worst run in six years.
“Every game is going to be tough for us from here on in,” admitted stand-in Roar skipper Jade North.
While the Roar dominated possession in the second half, it was the Sky Blues who had the best chance to steal the match late when replacement Christopher Naumoff had a free header at the back post but missed to the left.
Brisbane also looked more fluid in the first half and possessed the most dangerous player on the field with Brazilian Henrique constantly tormenting promoted defender Aaron Calver on the left wing.
Sydney also went closest to open the scoring before the break when canny Serbian midfielder Milos Dimitrijevic lobbed a perfect pass to Alex Brosque whose sharp header demanded a top-shelf save.
Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young, outclassed in the 2-0 loss in the round three meeting between the two sides, was equal to the task by tipping the shot over the bar.
The absence of Socceroos midfielder Matt McKay was covered better by the Roar than Sydney’s loss of Terry Antonis.
Luke Brattan showed his importance to the hosts with his smart service in the midfield until he was forced off with another hamstring scare following a rough challenge by Peter Triantis.
Triantis, booked for his 71st-minute foul, epitomised the visitors’ struggles in the high humidity when he went down with cramp soon after and appeared to ask referee Chris Beath to assist treating it.
Wainscoting
Guest
There are moments when it seems difficult to find impetus for consistent support in a league which can tantalise fans with european quality football one season and then after the inevitable exodus of in-form players the club can no longer afford, sends them tumbling back to vacuous 'Bob Malcolm' era football in the next. Bittersweet stagnancy. Good to see Sarota get plenty of minutes. Highly underrated player that barring further misfortune (touch wood) will keep improving throughout the season. Reached the end of my tether with Petratos long ago and would love to see Kofi make a resurgence in his place.
AL
Guest
The pitch was very poor. Pitches like that set back Football in this country. My opinion is Football stadiums in this country prepare their grounds for eggball codes. It dosent look good for the up-coming Asian cup. The ground was not acceptable for A-league games let alone International football.
tezza
Guest
Terrible game to watch last night, both teams at times looked uninterested in playing, the pitch didn`t help but it was the same for both sides. The roar had certainly want to recruit a QUALITY striker in January and it wouldn`t be hard to find one to partner Henrique. So many chances and yet so few goals being scored. It looks like they have sorted out the mess that was at the back and young Corey Brown was terrific against Ibini but what I don`t understand is that when they had tired players late in the second half why did they finish the game with 2 unused subs on the bench especially with a lad like Kofi Danning with speed to burn not running at the tiring Sydney defence?