Sydney FC entertain Melbourne City in the quarter final of the FFA Cup at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7.30pm (AEST).
When the draw was made for the last eight of this year’s FFA Cup it threw up a rematch of last year’s final between A-League heavyweights Sydney FC and Melbourne City.
It will be the third time they have met in the four years since the inception of the competition. City came away with the biggest win of those encounters with Tim Cahill heading the winner in last year’s final in Melbourne which ensured the Melbourne club picked up their first piece of silverware.
The FFA Cup has been a competition which has brought romanticism back into the game in Australia and has helped to bridge the connection between the professional and grassroots levels of the game. It has been the vehicle which has contributed to the ongoing debate about a second tier competition and if the gap between the semi-pro clubs and A-League clubs is as wide as you would expect or think.
Certainly this year’s instalment of the competition has added to both sides of the argument with Heidelberg United dismantling Perth Glory in the Round of 32 while Sydney FC tore apart Darwin Rovers 8-0 in their encounter in Darwin.
Graham Arnold has recently added more fuel to the fire between him and his NPL counterparts by declaring this game as a real test with games against NPL opposition allowing his side to cruise through at 50 per cent.
Both sides are into the latter stages of their pre-season and will see this game as an ideal opportunity to gain a real insight into how they are progressing. Victory for either club would serve as a nice confidence boost over their expected title rivals going into the A-League season.
A win would also move either side a step closer to silverware which should never be taking lightly. City will also be looking to defend the first and only cup they currently have in their trophy cabinet while Sydney will want to move a step closer to winning the Cup for the first time.
City boss Warren Joyce will be looking to guide his side into the last four and should be looking forward to locking horns with Graham Arnold for the first time. When Joyce spoke to the media on Tuesday he mentioned he was looking forward to the opportunity of playing against the best side in the country at present.
In team news, Joyce may call upon recent signing Marcelo Carrusca, with the former Adelaide player linking up with his new squad in recent days. They will, however, be without star man Bruno Fornaroli with the Uruguayan out for the foreseeable future with a broken ankle picked up in the last round.
City will be able to call upon Tim Cahill once again with the Australian back in contention after the recent World Cup qualifiers.
Sydney have bolstered their squad over the off season and made some quality additions to what was an already impressive list.
The likes of Luke Wilkshire, Anthony Kalik and Paulo Retre have been added to the Sky Blues but they will be looking to Polish striker Adrian Mierzejewski to put his stamp on the game with reports from inside the Sydney camp suggesting that they have a gem within their playing stocks once again.
Prediction
I am going with the home side in this one. Arnold has stated that it will be a unique opportunity for his team to play at Leichhardt Oval in the city’s inner-west and they will be hungry to get a win to edge them closer to a piece of domestic silverware that has avoided them so far.
With the improvements they have made to their squad and without Fornaroli to content with, the game should go the way of Sydney.
Sydney FC 2-1 Melbourne City
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7.30pm (AEST).
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Well that was pretty poor from Joyce and the lads. OK, rubbish. How Kamau and Malik get game time when they appear to NPL standard at best. Brattan on the bench??? Carrusca showed he still had the class and was about the only shining light. Sydney continuing from where they left off last season.
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
Match report It finished Sydney 2 Melbourne City 0 in this FFA CUP Quarter Final tie at Leichhardt Oval in Sydneys West . Graham Arnold will be ecstatic that his team are now into the final 4 and also with how his team performed tonight against potential title rivals going into the new season. Based on this performance City will be looking ahead to the next training session rather than their title credentials such was the lacklustre display they produced tonight. The game was only six minutes old when La Rocca of City committed a foul on the edge of the box and Dutch import Buijs got the ball up and over the wall from 20 yards to put Sydney in the lead, although If members of the City wall had bothered to jump it may have altered the course of the strike and gave City a chance to get a foothold in the game. The early goal seemed to knock City's confidence and Sydney managed to shift through the gears with relative ease and really dominate the half. There was a lot of hype in the build up to this game around new Sydney recruit Mierzejewski with Graham Arnold lavishing praise on the Polish playmaker. Mierzejewski clearly showed no signs of being weighed down by the expectations of his new fans and Gaffer by showing moments of genuine quality throughout the game. How he linked up with Ninkovic, Brosque and Zullo will be contributing to the sleepless nights that A League mangers will be having if they bothered to keep an eye on proceedings in Sydney. The way he dropped into pick up the ball and link the play was a joy to watch and it ensured Sydney dominated the first half. City went into the dressing room at half time knowing a big improvement was needed to get back in the game let alone give them themselves a chance of retaining their trophy from last year. A big change was made at the break with Tim Cahill entering the fray, Cahill immediately went about trying to rectify his teams performance gathering the players in a huddle and barking out instructions to his teammates. It seemed to have an effect as City started the second half with far more energy and purpose and pinned Sydney back in their half. City nearly equalised when good play involving Cahill and Kamau eventually led to Jamieson volleying wide from a tight angle. Melbourne were in the ascendancy but unfortunately for them Mierzejewski had other ideas and it was his exquisite through ball to Brosque 5 minutes into the second half that allowed the Sydney captain to lob Galekovic in City's goal.This took the wind completely out of Melbourne's sails and the game went back into the previous pattern of Sydney dominating possession with City players chasing shadows at times. It wasn't until the 86th minute that Redmayne was really tested in the Sydney goal following a snatched effort from Kamau inside the box after a lovely pass from Mauk. Melbourne will be disappointed with how they performed and the only positive they can really take is the fact they have another 3 weeks to work on a game plan to attack the new season with. Sydney will be really happy with their nights work and esp[ecially how the new recruits performed. they look stronger than last year which will be a big concern to the rest of the league. The only worry they have was Brosque going off with an ankle complaint and Zullo seen limping after being substituted.Losing such key players close to the new season would be a big blow so it will be interesting to see how both pull up. All in all and easy night at the office for Sydney Sydney 2 Melbourne City 0 Hope you enjoyed Live Coverage on The Roar tonight !!
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
97' And thats a wrap folks FT Sydney 2 Melbourne City 0 Hope you enjoyed Live Coverage on The Roar tonight !!
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
95' Simon 4 minutes on = 4 fouls. Dangerous position for a free kick but Redmayne punches Carrusca free kick clear. Sydney 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
94' Matt Simon takes no prisoners, just a workhorse, he upends Mauk. Sydney fans love their Cult hero. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
FT Adelaide 3 Heidelberg 0 The Reds through to the last 4
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
92' Corner to Sydney, can they pile more misery on Joyces team tonight Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
90' 7 minutes added time Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
88' Mierzejewski Off Simon On Mierzejewski has certainly endeared himself to Sydney fans with his display tonight. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
86' Chance 86 gone and the first time Redmayne was called into action, Cahill drops deep to get on the ball he clips one forward to Mauk who played in Kamau and my point about his lack of real quality hits home as he snatches at an attempt on goal. Big chance that was to put Sydney under some pressure. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
84' And the Sydney fans are enjoying this at the moment, the OLE's are ringing out as the Matador plays with the tired Bull- City could do with the whistle Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
81 Chance Kamau plays in Carney- yes you read that correctly - Kamau played in an opposition player but how Sydney missed Brosque in that situation as Carney strikes tamely wide Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
80' Brattan on La Rocca off Will Brattan make a difference here ? No doubt they need his energy and passing ability Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
78' Sydney just happy to sit off at the moment. City lacking quality on the ball to really pick them off. Ball movement is far too slow. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
76' Kamau has got the speed but has he got the quality ?? Open the gate springs to mind....he loses possession and gives away a free deep in Sydneys half. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
74' Sub for Sydney Zullo Off and Retre On Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
72' The midfield is where this game has got away from City, they have never been able to control the game, the technical quality and intelligence of Sydneys play in Midfield has more or less shaped this game. 18 left and still remains the same. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
70' City need to go through the gears pretty quickly to get back into this , a little bit better the last 2 minutes with the ball but their move forward amounts to nothing. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
Sydney Sub 68' Carney on Brosque off Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0
Alan Kearney
Roar Guru
66' Corner to City - can they get back in the game ?? The answer is not yet , the ball is cleared from Sydney. Sydney FC 2 Melbourne City 0