Sydney FC’s Clint Bolton stopped shots from Ney Fabiano, Danny Allsopp and Jose Luis Lopez to give Sydney a 0-0 scoreline against the Melbourne Victory.
Melbourne were favourites to win the clash, with Sydney missing a host of players including John Aloisi and Alex Brosque. Young Chris Payne made his debút as a lone striker, but struggled to have any real impact.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOrh8InZ3k4[/youtube]
For most of the game, it was Melbourne who were doing the attacking, and they were looking good – bar the final third. Lopez formed a clear bridge between defence and attack, scooping up balls at the back and feeding them forwards. With Lopez leading the way, the Victory attacked with purpose and fluidity, always through the midfield. I was surprised to see Michael Thwaite pushing up and creating width, but he did it to great effect.
While the movement forwards was very encouraging, Melbourne’s inability to finish chances is concerning. In the Pre-Season Cup, the Victory only managed to score three goals. Against Sydney, Fabiano and Allsopp both had excellent chances, as did Lopez, but Clint Bolton was there to stop them every time. Sydney’s keeper had a great night between the sticks.
Meanwhile, the Jets-Mariners clash on Friday night and the Phoenix-Roar game on Sunday both ended in 1-1 draws. Adelaide United has taken the lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win over the Perth Glory. From memory, this is the first time Adelaide has been at the top of the table since season 1, when it spent almost the entire season up there.
3 comments ↓
Plenty of encouraging signs particularly in the first half and could have killed the game then but for the finishing/Bolton’s heroics. Sometimes a draw can feel like a win (the 3-3 at home gainst CCM ) and sometimes it can feel like a loss, which at the end of this match it felt like, a missed opportunity.
I don’t think Broxham or Celeski really added a great deal when they came on, maybe a bit jaded after their adventures, but I think Nick Ward may have added something. I think Carlos is starting to show his class and once Lopez has settled he will too.
I think the defences in all of the teams have improved in the last couple of years which is another reason for such a low-scoring first round, don’t know if we’ll be seeing this change as teams/strikers get sharper as the seaons wears on. I think Fabiano will =)
I didnt get to see most of the game(anything other than a wedding would not have stopped me!) but what i did see and from what ive read it all came down to bolton, i have no idea how he stopped that shot from fabiano???
I though it was promising from melbourne, i think fabiano will be fantastic this year and could prove the difference between a draw and a win, he can score goals and will put pressure on thompson and allsop to step it up a notch or two, weather there up to it is another matter altogether.
I honestly think we have the best defence in the league right now, thwaite, vargas, muscat and young ryall with theo between the sticks, i cant see us conceding to many goals.
Individually the players look fantastic, the challange is going to be to gell as a team, a team of champions does not neccacerily mean you have a champion team, but ive got a good feeling about this year and cant wait to see you all at the first game in a couple of weeks:)
This was a better performance than the vast majority of last seasons campaign and was a very positive start to the season.
The lowlights were our inability to put any of the several chances in the net and the knowledge that we were playing a second string side so that has to curb our enthusiasm a bit.
Fabiano just seemed to lack the final touch a few times and Alsopp drifted out of the game in the second half but overall they worked well and should present a formidable forward pair.
It was great to see Thwaite push up the wing so often and i hope we continue to be adventurous – Thwaite just needs to learn to look up before he crosses as most of his balls went to nobody in particular.
I thought Celeski added some spark when he came on but Broxham is too defensive minded and I am not sure why he came on as we seemed to loose momentum.
I also thought Berger did a pretty good job in (i think) his first starting match. The defence looked pretty solid most of the match and will take some beating this year.
Carlos and Jose in midfield seemed to gel well also.
Based on that performance I am sure looking forward to a good year coming up.
Leave a Comment