Graham Arnold decided to take his three foreign attackers over Jordy Buijs, he might come to rue that decision. Without the Dutchman’s steel in defence, the backline looked a little shaky. More importantly Sydney had been relying on Buijs quick, precise balls into the midfield. This slowed Sydney’s entire team down.

Andrew Redmayne 6 – made a couple of good saves to keep the score respectable. Nothing he could have done for the two he conceded.

Aaron Calver 4 – he looked like a man who hasn’t had very much first team football lately. He was off the pace. Young Australians like him need to be playing more.

Alex Wilkinson 5 – needed to play the ball into the midfield quicker, he’s been relying on Buijs to play the ball forward too much. He didn’t hit his sideways passes to Calver hard enough, needed to trust the kid more.

Luke Wilkshire 5 – the veteran right back put in a solid performance tonight but his team needed more. Sydney usually play a little lopsided in possession with Zullo getting further forward. Suwon shut that outlet down so Wilkshire should have pushed harder to take up the slack.

Michael Zullo 6 – tonight he was up against two of Suwong’s imports down the left side. He has been one of Sydney’s best outlets lately but he found it much harder against the Bluewings. That said, he was one of Sydney’s best. He stopped a certain goal and he did manage to get forward a couple of times.

Brandon O’Neill 4 – not a night he’ll remember fondly. It wasn’t entirely his fault. Without Buijs, the ball came from defence into midfield too slowly. This put O’Neill and Brillante under more pressure than they’re used to. Suwon had too long to adjust and close the space. He also found it hard to win the ball back because the Suwon midfield played the ball too quickly. On top of all these frustrations he gave away a penalty.

 

Josh Brillante 4.5 – he shared the frustrations of his midfield partner tonight. He couldn’t find space on the ball and he couldn’t close the space quickly enough off the ball. With both defensive midfielders on a yellow, Arnold decided to take off Brillante, that turned out to be a bad choice.

Milos Ninkovic 4.5 – the Serb was very, very tightly marked tonight. Suwon’s defensive work rate was rather impressive. He might have had a better night if the ball came to him a bit quicker.

Adrian Mierzejewski 5.5 – of the Sydney VISA players, he was the only one who looked like himself tonight. He was able to find space with the ball when his team mates couldn’t. However, his passes missed their mark more often than usual.

Alex Brosque 5.5 – he butchered a great opportunity in the first half. Otherwise he had a pretty solid game. He’s usually the quietest link in the Sydney attack but tonight he stepped up. Didn’t threaten the goal though.  

Bobo 4 – tonight was one of his worst games for Sydney. He can’t blame it on bad service because he received a few lovely balls which he touched like a baby rhino. More than five times his foot was a nine iron when he needed a putter.  

Subs

David Carney 5.5 – he was handy off the bench. He must have noticed the ref hadn’t paid any off the ball fouls and was able to get himself clear once with a bit of sly work. He could have scored a header as well.

Matt Simon 5 – not his worst little cameo. Should have had an assist but Carney put it over. He also won a few headers and ran hard at defenders. Very Matt Simon-like.

Charles Lokolingoy 4.5 – he didn’t really see enough of the ball for a fair rating but he should have been screaming at Carney before the veteran put his chance over the bar. Lokolingoy was in a better position.