Sydney FC have continued their sensational unbeaten start to the A-League season as David Carney scored a brace to send Melbourne Victory packing 2-1 in a thrilling, spiteful Big Blue.
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The Sky Blues rode their luck throughout a tricky first half at Allianz Stadium on Saturday then came from a goal down to stick the knife in and claim their first win against Victory in 10 meetings.
The result leaves the Sky Blues with five wins from five games this season and three points clear at the top of the table – though it wasn’t always clear-cut.
Sydney conceded their first goal of this campaign when Mitch Austin put Victory in front on 41 minutes.
It was a deserved goal for the left-winger, who played the role of creator all night and ran Sydney right-back Rhyan Grant ragged.
Yet it should have come much earlier in an incredibly lucky first half for the hosts, during which Besart Berisha had a goal disallowed and missed a penalty, while captain Alex Brosque could well have been sent off for his heavy challenge on Leigh Broxham.
Sandwiched in between, Marco Rojas missed a sitter with Sydney goalkeeper Danny Vukovic erroneously off his line and an empty net beckoning.
Austin, who delivered Rojas the cross, was also provider of a lovely through ball to Berisha in the opening minutes, but the offside flag was raised moments after the Albanian striker chipped into the net.
Berisha was then the recipient of wild jeers from 19,143 mostly Sydney fans for his shocking attempt at a penalty.
The shot skewed high and left of goal, forcing a wry smile from him and a taunt from Filip Holosko, the man who had fouled him in the box.
Despite the catalogue of close calls and chances at both ends, Sydney had a slight upper hand, with Serbian playmaker Milos Ninkovic applying pressure and Josh Brillante narrowly missing a long-range bullet.
Graham Arnold clearly wasn’t happy though and the coach traded barbs with his Victory counterpart Kevin Muscat, who was given a warning by referee Chris Beath as tensions boiled over.
Tempers flared on the field too as substitute Matt Simon got rough with James Donachie and Michael Zullo suffered a nasty collision with a pitchside table.
Amid the drama, Arnold made the big call of replacing marquee man Holosko with veteran Carney on the hour mark – and it proved a masterstroke.
The former Socceroo struck just four minutes into his introduction, appearing to handle Brosque’s ball in the box before stabbing home with his left foot.
Then, on the 78th minute, Grant cut the ball back to Carney for his clinical left boot to prod home again.
Al
Guest
looks like Adelaide will be in the same boat in concentrating on Asia. However, still early days................
Jorge Hernandez
Guest
Interesting thing is probably 99.8% of handballs thats are called are not deliberate it is incredibly rare for a player to go out of their way to handle the ball but yet handball is called regardless. I myself in the game have handballed but not once did I handball the ball deliberately but at the same time the majority of the time I agreed with the ref i handballed the ball. So in the end it ultimately comes up to the refs interpretation.
pete4
Guest
News Ltd are now running the story “The FFA are looking to introduce the video assistant referee in April 2017, O’Rourke said" http://www.news.com.au/sport/football/a-league/aleague-referees-set-to-get-video-help-on-controversial-calls-before-finals-begin/news-story/f810af9c0bd2353882beb7d2fedc1dc9
TheVolley
Guest
Waz let's agree to disgree about the use of vide reviews. Both Nemesis and I contend that the review only occurs when the play is already stopped while the players are celebrating.
Waz
Guest
The handball law does not require the referee to assess a players technical ability. It concerns itself with a key word - was it deliberate? The fact that you presume to know better than last nights trained referee when you didn't even know the rule until an hour ago is quite frankly astonishing. At least Fuss would have checked before jumping in feet first. Have a nice Sunday.
Waz
Guest
Really? until an hour ago you didn't actually know the rule but now you're questioning its interpretation lol
Nemesis
Guest
Your interpretation of the deliberate rule is totally flawed and does not reflect the way referees implement the Handball Rule.
Nemesis
Guest
Yes. I think David Carney deliberately used his hand to control the ball because he did not have the technical or physical ability to control the ball with his upper leg, lower leg, foot, chest or head.
Waz
Guest
My point is it's not a step forward if it destroys the fluid nature of the game. Which there is a high risk it will do.
Waz
Guest
Fair enough, that's what you think (not a surprise a multi has appeared, sigh ...) But I've extrapolated the laws in the post below. Carneys hands were in a natural position, he didn't move his hands, and it was an unexpected ball therefore there are good reasons why the referee can conclude it wasn't deliberate. It helps if you understand the rule of course, FoxSports didn't help with their popcorn analysis again last night.
Waz
Guest
My question above got derailed by Nemesis telling me what "the people of Australia" thought so let me take another tack. I watched on tv last night and thought handball when I saw the replay and assumed rhe referee was unsighted, but the referees explanation on tv after the game suggest he wasn't unsighted and that he was happy he had applied the laws of the game properly (which state the hand to ball must be deliberate - for which there are good reasons). In addition to the handball incident the ref must also consider: • the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand) • the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball) In the first instance Carneys hands were in a natural position and did not move towards the ball; the ball therefore struck his hand In the second instance, a defender jumped for the ball immediately in front of carney, missed it, so carney gets an unexpected ball that strikes his arm. So uncomfortable though it is, I think the referee got the call right - play on, and a 5th official and VR would have only served to confirm it.
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
I do. He put his arm in a position to control the ball
Waz
Guest
Then you don't know the laws of the game. FIFA define handball as "Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm" So the question stands, who thought Carney deliberately handled the ball?
Nemesis
Guest
As far as I know "intent" is never used in the Laws. I could be wrong. The question was answered: people in Australia who saw the incident including: Graham Arnold, Alex Brosque, David Carney
TheVolley
Guest
Waz, when has FIFA or IFAB allowed every man and his dog to demand or decide anything. And when have FIFA or IFAB been concerned about media? As it stands, the speed at which video replays are shown in stadiums and on TV is THE CAUSE of controversies. If video replays are so bad in other sports why haven't they abandoned the use of it? No solution is perfect but it is step forward.
Waz
Guest
The rules are very clear, for the handball to be an offence there must be some intent to handle the ball. The ball hitting Carneys arm is not an offence in itself. If carney had no deliberate action to handle the ball it is play on, the rule is very specific ... which is probably why the referee used those deliberate words "his hands were in a natural position". The question remains -- who thought Carney deliberately handled the ball?
Nemesis
Guest
"the defending team will then insist that VR is used to review" From what IFAB has reported that's not the way VAR will be used. IFAB has made it very clear that the Ref is in control of the game. End of story. VAR will be there to help the Ref in relation to FOUR types of decisions when he's not sure. There will be no 'challenges' or 'appeals' from players, coaches, etc. The Ref will consult the VAR just like the ref nowadays consults the Linesmen. I've not heard anyone say VAR is the perfect fix. It's simply a tool to help the ref make his decision. But, IFAB stresses, the decision is the REF's decision. It's not any 3rd party.
Nemesis
Guest
I think everyone, including Graham Arnold, Alex Brosque ... even David Carney have admitted it was a handball offence. The ref didn't see it. No problem. That's football. Arnie is a very reasonable coach and I'm sure he will say "it all evens out" when the same decision impacts his team negatively.
Waz
Guest
For handball to be an offence it must be deliberate, how many people would say Carney deliberately handled the ball?
Waz
Guest
I agree with you on positioning