Michael Zullo – 5.5

Shanghai seemed to find some space on Zullo’s side of defence, where they directed a handful of unsuccessful crosses. With thirty minutes to go, Zullo attempted a long pass and appeared to pull his hamstring in the process. Despite attempting to soldier on, he was replaced by Paulo Retre.

Brandon O’Neill – 6.5

Forever a safe and composed player on the ball, O’Neill was consistent with his distribution in the midfield and rarely strayed out of position.

Joshua Brillante – 7.5

An all-rounder in the Sydney midfield, Brillante met every tackle head on and often dictated the pace of the game when in possession. Sometimes, consistency and simplicity has to be admired.

Alex Brosque – 7.5

Went unnoticed for the first 20 minutes, but came close to opening the scoring with a cheeky toe-poke that bounced off the crossbar. 14 minutes later, the captain struck the ball past Shanghai’s goalkeeper, giving Sydney the lead and was involved heavily from then on.

Adrian Mierzejewski – 6

For once, the creative midfielder took a back seat in Sydney’s attacking display. Don’t be mistaken, Adrian was involved just not to his usual standard. A half-volley ten minutes into the game was as close as he came to adding to the goal tally.

Milos Ninkovic – 7.5

Ninkovic’s creativity kept the host defence guessing throughout the game. Sydney’s danger man played a role in several attacks and constantly forced the opposing defence on the back foot, allowing space for a shot or a clever forward pass. With seconds to go, Ninkovic had a chance to steal three points but clumsily skied his effort.

Bobo – 7

Could’ve entered the dressing room at half-time with a hat-trick to his name. On a couple of occasions, the Shanghai goalkeeper denied the Brazilian and on other occasions, poor decision making let the striker down. However, his persistency often created chances for others, which is exactly what happened when Wilkshire finished after responding to a Bobo header.

SUBS:

Paulo Retre –  5.5

Entered the field with bags of energy and looked determined to have an impact in attack, as well as defence. Despite finding some space in the final third, Retre’s attempted crosses found Shanghai heads. Defensively, the full-back was okay but sometimes out of position.