Saturday night meant a third game in eight days and despite coach Graham Arnold continually boasting about his side’s fitness levels, he made several changes to his starting XI.

Rare starts for Sebastian Ryall and fan favourite Matt Simon. Adrian Mierzejewski also started after his Mark Viduka Medal winning performance on Tuesday, despite barely being able to walk after the full-time whistle.

Brisbane on the other hand were fresh off their first win for the 2017/18 season against Melbourne City and despite the fact they’re still missing several key first-team players, John Aloisi is finally getting some consistency in his line-up.

The Sky Blues could return to the top of the A-League table with a win after the Newcastle Jets’ usurped them on Thursday, whilst Brisbane Roar were looking to enter the Top 6 with back to back wins.

So could the men in orange take advantage of the heavy schedule and disruption to their oppositions line up or would the Sky Blues machine roll on?

Sydney FC

Andrew Redmayne – 7 - Comfortable evening for the Sydney FC first choice gloveman. Very rarely challenged. Conceded late after Jack Hingert’s shot was deflected.

Luke Wilkshire – 6.5 - On the left tonight but not unusual over his career to be deployed there. Whipped in the cross that won Sydney a penalty, duly converted by Adrian Mierzejewski. Contained the likes of Khalfallah and Holman well until injury time when the latter got by him to set-up Brisbane’s consolation.

Jordy Buijs – 7.5 - Quiet night for him but came up with a pin-point assist for Sydney’s third when he put the ball on Sebastian Ryall’s head.

Alex Wilkinson – 7 - Typical workman like performance from the former Socceroo. Did not allow Maccarone to have any influence. Unfortunate deflection to allow Brisbane to get on the scoresheet.

Sebastian Ryall – 7 - Was a bit rusty in his first start for the year with Paulo Retre being preferred as the fill-in thus far in season 2017/18. Worked his way into it though and telegraphed a message to Jordy Buijs to give him his first league goal for a while.

Brandon O’Neill – 8 - Anything the Brisbane Roar midfield threw at him he handled. Dropped back and pushed forward like a piston in the well-oiled Sydney FC engine. Trademark distribution along with his partner in crime Josh Brillante. Putting both of these two into holding midfield at the national level would not be an outrageous idea.

Josh Brillante – 9 - Lovely diagonal ball from right to left for Luke Wilkshire, which allowed him time and space to whip in the cross that won Sydney’s penalty on 15 minutes. His work rate alone was impressive but what he did in that work was the real highlight. Tackled strongly and often, passed accurately, intercepted and broke up play. By all reports was close to a Socceroo call-up for the Honduras games and would not let anyone down at that level. Might need to start practicing his Russian.

Adrian Mierzejewski – 7.5 - Simply glided across the ground. Lovely outside of the boot pass to Matt Simon to lay off the assist for Sydney’s opening goal. Punished the ball into the net for Sydney’s second from the penalty spot and eventually substituted after playing the full two hours on Tuesday night.

Alex Brosque – 6.5 - Played a supporting role most of the night and got into some good positions without being used. Always involved and pressed throughout which helped force turnovers.

David Carney – 7.5 - Clinical finish for Sydney’s first when he drifted into a central position at the top of the box. Started his sixth game of the season meaning he is only one off equaling his starts for last season. A big part of this team and still has all the craft and guile he has had for years.

Matt Simon – 7 - Rare start in Sydney’s star-studded line-up and his touch to fellow veteran David Carney on seven minutes was sublime. He harried and headed his way through the next 70 minutes before reacting poorly to a filthy act from Avram Papadopoulos. Straight Red for the Budgewoi Bull as a result.

Substitutes

Anthony Kalik – 7 - 68th Min – Most minutes he has been given so for in Sky Blue and showed signs he will get many more. Had a golden opportunity to put Sydney 4-0 up but Jamie Young did enough to deny him. Good touches throughout his stint.

Bobo – N/A - 85th Min – Got involved in his limited time off the bench and copped a harsh foul for his trouble. Not enough involvement for fair rating.

Paulo Retre – N/A - 94th Min - Not enough involvement for fair rating.

Brisbane Roar

Jamie Young – 6 - Not given much of a chance from his defenders for most of the night. Good save to deny Kalik late.

Connor O’Toole – 6.5 - Has a wicked left foot and used it to fairly good fruition. Subbed late to give Ivan Franjic some minutes but tried to make a difference throughout.

Avram Papadopoulos – 2 - Had the job of containing Matt Simon which is like trying to contain water in a leaky bucket. If that bucket wasn’t already perforated to start with, his disgusting act of spitting at him certainly unleashed the flood gates. Saw a straight Red for his troubles, along with the Wizard from Woy Woy. We don’t want that kind of thing in the game.

Jacob Pepper – 5.5 - Unfortunate to concede the Penalty that lead to Sydney’s second goal. Had a fairly good night aside from that until he completely switched off to allow Seb Ryall in from a set-piece.

Jack Hingert – 5.5 - Lucky to escape a booking when he slid in on Wilkshire early in the first half. Gave away possession far too easily throughout, got on the scoresheet late with the help of a deflection.

Eric Bautheac – 5 - Definitely not his best work. The Sydney FC defence and midfield shut him out of the game and didn’t allow much ball to get though to him.

Joe Caletti – 5 - Got involved in some one-two’s with Holman and Maccarone but was completely outplayed by Brillante and O’Neill.

Matt McKay – 4 - Allowed David Carney to ghost into the box unmarked for Sydney’s opener. Dominated by the press of Sydney FC and looked completely out of rhythm.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah – 5.5 - Did not have the supply he got last week. Struggled for similar reasons to his team-mates in that the ball just wasn’t getting through the lines.

Brett Holman – 7 - Brisbane’s best, quite easily. Tried to get his team going forward and had a busy first half before delivering the assist to Jack Hingert.

Massimo Maccarone – 5.5 - Had no choice but to drop deep to get any ball and try to encourage his team to run through in support but at the end of the day, they didn’t.

Substitutes

Nick D’Agostino – 5 -  80th Minute – Came on in a terrible situation and couldn’t really do much about it

Ivan Franjic – N/A - 85th Minute substitute, not enough time to give fair rating.

Mitchell Oxborrow – N/A - 85th Minute substitute, not enough time to give fair rating.