An avalanche of goals but still some clean sheets to end the season: The A-League players who were the difference in Round 26
Joe Lolley was outstanding for the Sky Blues, scoring a brace as Sydney FC equaled their biggest ever victory.
Western Sydney have already recovered from their gruelling A-League semi-final and are ready to face a full-throttle Adelaide United in the season-decider, according to defender Scott Jamieson.
The Wanderers have seven days to back up from Sunday’s 5-4 extra-time win over Brisbane before playing again in the all-important grand final at Adelaide Oval.
The two-time grand finalists fought back from 3-0 down to triumph in the two-hour classic.
But every one of the players involved has been named in coach Tony Popovic’s extended 18-man squad for the competition’s showpiece, and Jamieson put the team’s speedy recuperation down to the players’ impeccable fitness.
“Playing two hours might be a big feat, but the way we’ve trained this year and the work we’ve done has allowed us to back up quite quickly and move onto the next game,” Jamieson told AAP.
Jamieson is the only team member to have played every single minute this season.
Partly lucky to get through without injuries, the 27-year-old also felt he’d benefited from the most demanding training schedule he’d experienced in his career.
Regardless, he conceded the Wanderers will have their hands full with a red-hot Reds side and singled out Marcelo Carrusca, Sergio Cirio and in-form striker Brice Djite as coach Guillermo Amor’s main X-factors in attack.
“If you win the league (Premiers Plate) you don’t really have too many weaknesses,” Jamieson said.
“They’re a very, very good team.”
The clubs have played out three draws this season, with little to split them in other statistics.
“All three games we’ve played against them have been very tight, but in saying that we’ve created chances in those games to win them,” Jamieson said.
“It’s a case of looking at what we did well there and trying to replicate it in a sense.”
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