Leading up to the Sydney Derby I was approached by @MPStories to share my viewpoint of the match, as posted yesterday we saw the Wanderers point of view and today we see the match through the eyes of a Sydney FC fan. You can visit the Moore Park Stories blog here: http://mooreparkstories.com/ I think the contrast between the two articles encapsulates the spirit of the derby and what it means for both sides, enjoy:
S2 E7 (E23) Euphoria
WHAT A GAME! WHAT AN ATMOSPHERE! WHAT A COMEBACK! WHAT A WIN! WOW! WOW! WOW!
The seventh edition of the Sydney Derby was the best game of the derby by far. It was a derby game in which you hope for everything and it delivered by the bucket load. There were goals, a red card, drama, niggles between players, fans losing their voices in the stands, a comeback, passion and a tremendous atmosphere. It was football theatre at its absolute finest! Most importantly the game had the right result, a victory for Sydney FC!
Ten minutes from kick off and I began to get extremely nervous. I had confidence in our lads and I believed that we were in the better position to win the game. But this is Western Sydney. Despite getting thumped last week (still great to relive one week on), I knew they would be up for this game.
Kick off was near and the FFA had manufactured a face-off. When I first saw this I thought this was ridiculous. But given the occasion and rising stature of the fixture, I thought this was great innovation. I would love this to be something that becomes exclusive to the Sydney Derby but Tony Pignata tweeted that the FFA will do the same for the Melbourne Derby, so boo to it becoming a permanent fixture.
With the formalities done, kick off came and went. I thought it would be a cagey opening but Sydney settled into the game quickly. Western Sydney struggled in the early stages while our lads kept the ball, prodding and poking for an opportunity. The first fifteen minutes was all us, we were just missing a goal. At that point I felt that this would be a tight affair by the end of the game and that we’d probably nick one to seal the points.
We all know how things change in an instant…
And so things changed. Just like that the villain in this fixture for Sydney FC fans, Mark Bridge, scored against the run of play. It was a huge kick in the guts given that we had been dominating the game until that point. They did not deserve it but they had done what they done many times before, taking advantage of their limited opportunities. At 1:0 down, I was deflated but I knew we weren’t out of it. We had played too well to be out of it at one down.
But if I was deflated at that moment, I was on life support soon after.
The Wanderers had a corner that was poorly delivered. Sasa Ognenovski cleared the ball sky high but unfortunately it went backward instead of forward. Vedran Janjetovic was called into action again and he prepared himself to concede another corner. But the worst possible scenario happened. As Janjetovic jumped, the ball seemed to move late, moving away from Janjetovic who in the end could only palm it into the goal. There it was, 2:0 down at home and all the good things we’d done earlier in the game were for naught, literally.
With this score line, my head had begun to accept defeat. Given the Wanderers resolute defence, I knew it was near impossible to get back into the game. My heart, however, flickered dimly with hope. My heart hoped for a goal before half time. ‘That was all we needed,’ my heart told my mind.
After the disappointment of conceding two quick goals, our lads steadied the ship. But the context of the game took on a different look for us. It felt like the game was turning into a damage limitation exercise for us, which is kind of funny because earlier that looked to be the Wanderers approach given our early domination. Unfortunately it just looked as though we weren’t going to get a chance to score again.
And then things changed again…
Petkovic with the long ball. It finds Brosque, who controls in the Wanderers box. This could be dangerous. Brosque backheels the ball to Gameiro, who cuts in from the left wing. Gameiro takes a touch. Gameiro… GAMEIROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Gameiro, with confidence flowing through his veins, pulls a goal back and it’s now 2:1.
Game on, suckers. And then what seemed to almost immediately, the referee blew the whistle for half time.
Gameiro’s goal was all about the little things. If the little things go your way, your chances of winning the game increases. In a derby, I believe the little things become primary influences and definitely make or break the outcome. On the replay, you can see that Gameiro’s shot takes a beneficial deflection. If it didn’t, the shot goes comfortably wide. Gameiro is a player full of confidence at the moment and right now, the little things are going his way. In the bigger picture of the game, the little thing that went Gameiro’s way change the dynamic of Graham Arnold’s half time talk.
If we went into the break at 2:0 down, Arnold’s speech may have been one of attempting to refocus the players and trying to restore some confidence to avoid a humiliating defeat. But at 2:1 down, Arnold no doubt just has to build on the confidence now available because of Gameiro’s goal. There’s more than enough time to score two goals to win the game.
The second half commenced and just like last week, we scored early. Three minutes into the half, Sasa Ognenovski bundled the ball over the line to bring Sydney level at 2:2. It wasn’t without controversy though, as the Wanderers appealed that Bernie Ibini was offside.
The replay clearly showed Ibini was in an offside position. However, what the replay also shows is that Covic was committed to diving into the path of Ognenovski’s shot. What Covic didn’t account for was a deflection from his own player. With him stranded, the deflection took the ball into Ibini’s path, who intelligently spread his legs and thus avoiding contact with the ball. The ball rolls in unobstructed and the referee rightfully awards the goal. I doubt Covic would have had enough time to reach the deflected path of the shot. Had Ibini touched it, then yes it is definitely offside. But that moment of intelligence was brilliant awareness from young Ibini.
2:2. GAME EFFING ON!
At 2:2, the game seemed to swing in our favour. It became a virtually onslaught. Like a shark in the water, Sydney FC smelt blood. It was attack after attack and at one point, it was wave after wave of corners. It seemed to be a matter of time before the Wanderers caved into the pressure our lads were applying.
If Gameiro’s goal was the gamechanger, as Arnold put it, then what followed next made sure the game was permanently in our favour.
Vitor Saba inexplicably hacked down Terry Antonis and the referee promptly punished him with a red card. Saba was incensed but on viewing the replay, it just looks really bad. He clearly lunges in with his left, studs showing, in Antonis’ right foot. Saba’s trailing foot strikes Antonis’ left foot, which before contact Antonis was using to keep himself standing. Saba’s tackle could have been much worse if he had timed it better but the reality is, is that he gave the referee no other choice.
That said, I am a huge fan of good, hard tackling. But there’s a difference between a smart, hard tackle and stupid, hard tackle. Saba clearly had a brain explosion, which seems to be becoming a habit, given his incident in the Asian Champions League. If I was a Wanderers fan, I would be livid because up until that point the game looked to be heading for a draw, in spite of Sydney’s dominance.
With Saba gone, the game was now completely in our favour. Our lads continued to apply pressure, holding the ball well while looking for the right opportunity to strike. Now, more than ever during the game, the Sydney fans were hoping a hero would step up. Somebody. Anybody.
When the goal came it was fitting that it was our captain, Alex Brosque, was the scorer. The scenes that followed his goal were spectacular. Part of The Cove spilled on to the pitch, making a beeline for Brosque to celebrate with them. This is what a derby means to fans, passion, pride and glory.
The following ten minutes were nervy. The full time whistle couldn’t come soon enough, given the Wanderers previous exploits. But that last ten minutes saw a different Wanderers, a Wanderers team that seemed to go into their shell, highlighted by the injury to Public Enemy Number 2 Brendan Santalab.
The full time whistle blew. We won. The points were ours and so were the bragging rights! We were sailing at the top of the table, if only for a moment while the Wanderers remained anchored to the bottom (see what I did there).
It was the win we craved and one we definitely deserved in the context of the game. The game was full of emotion and drama, the perfect derby with the perfect result.
EUPHORIA!
Talking Points
There were a few talking points that occurred during the game.
As I mentioned earlier, Arnold said that Gameiro’s goal was the turning point. He is absolutely right. If Gameiro does not score, the second half is played entirely differently. But his goal changed the course of the game and restored belief in the plan heading into half time. The lads came out firing in the second half, with Gameiro’s goal clearly restoring confidence in the team.
Vitor Saba is another talking point. Wanderers’ fans are excited by his ability. What they should be concerned about is his brain snaps. This is now the second episode of a brain snap in his brief stint thus far in Australia. This poses a problem for the Wanderers because they have no quality number 10 as back up. Shinji Ono is long gone as is Aaron Mooy.
The final taking point is Sasa Ognenovski. The Og Monster was at the centre of a lot of niggly incidents during the game. For me, I expect nothing less in a derby. Pride is on the line as is bragging rights. This type of psychological warfare is common in derbies worldwide. Last year, Jerome Polenz filled this role for the Wanderers by way of his reckless tackles. But admittedly, Og may have a case to answer because of his slap on Saba during Saba’s red card protest. I personally think there’s nothing in it, given that Saba did not react to it.
Kudos
Huge credit must go to The Cove. They produced yet another marvelous tifo display. The Cove always comes up with great tifos and clearly with this one, show why they are the number 1 tifo crew in the country.
