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Corica still keen on top spot despite slip

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8th February, 2019
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Sydney FC’s bid for a hat-trick of A-League Premiers’ Plates took a hit with Friday’s shock 2-1 defeat to Brisbane.

The Sky Blues surrendered a lead at Suncorp Stadium to fall to the undermanned Roar after second-half goals by Thomas Mikkelsen and Dylan Wenzel-Halls.

The defeat means third-placed Sydney could find themselves as much as eight points behind table-topping Perth by the end of the weekend.

Glory face second-placed Melbourne Victory in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday and can take a firm grip on their first A-League premiership if they defeat the reigning champions.

Sydney coach Steve Corica admitted Friday’s loss hurt his team’s chances of securing a third straight Premiers’ Plate but with nine games of the season remaining he isn’t throwing in the towel on his team clawing their way to top spot by season’s end.

“We’ll have to see on Sunday what happens in that game. We’re definitely not going to give up,” Corica said.

“At the moment we’re still five points behind Perth. Even if they win the game on Sunday we’ll keep going because there’s … a lot of points still to go.”

The clash with the Roar was the A-League debut for Iranian recruit Reza Ghoochannejhad following his move to Sydney earlier this month.

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The 31-year-old looked dangerous at times against the Roar before being substituted in the second-half with Corica excited about how his partnership up front with Englishman Adam Le Fondre will develop.

“I thought he was good in the first half, he got a little bit tired in the second half,” Corica said.

“He probably hasn’t played for about a month now, but I was pleased with the combination that him and Adam had up front. It looked very good in the first half.”

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