PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND – SYDNEY FC

They may have lost the FFA Cup mid-week but Sydney FC backed up big time, absolutely dominating Newcastle Jets into a comfortable 2-0 win. Whilst the result on paper does sound impressive, it was thanks to the heroics of Jack Duncan that Newcastle didn’t suffer a larger loss.

Up until this game, only 12 different players had started for Sydney FC in the A-League this season but four changes to last week’s starting team meant that Sydney had a completely new look side. Milos Dimitrijevic and Sebastian Ryall got their first starts of the A-League season as did George Blackwood, who hadn’t even been in a match day squad this season.

Sydney were slow to start with the big changes to the squad taking a while to kick in. George Blackwood was the target of several challenges from the Newcastle players and he won a fair share of free kicks for Sydney as he penetrated well down the right wing.

Milos Dimitrijevic was acting as a solid defensive midfielder too, showing he’s capable of replacing Brandon O’Neill or Joshua Brillante at a moment’s notice. He had a good chance late in the first half to finish off a free kick but couldn’t keep it down, sending it just over the bar.

Although they couldn’t find the finish in the first half, they came out in the second half firing strong with Milos Ninkovic, who has been one of Sydney’s performers of the season, finding the back of the net just past the hour mark. It was a failing on Newcastle’s part not to shut down the Serbian midfielder earlier, with the player using the space he was given excellently.

Sydney would continue to pepper the Newcastle goal with a Dimitrijevic free kick finding Alex Wilkinson’s head, forcing Jack Duncan into a spectacular save to keep out Sydney yet again.

However, Bernie Ibini finally put the game beyond doubt when he got Sydney their second goal of the night. Escaping two defenders excellently, the player was then able to take a shot which was saved by Duncan, however the player’s follow up strike found the goal.

Sydney held Newcastle inside their own half for most of the game and Newcastle were barely able to get a touch of the ball inside the final third, let alone find many shots.

With an incredible 21 shots to 3, Sydney were a dominant force in this game. Not only was their attack good, their defence was strong as ever too, denying the Jets any shot on target. Sydney had the bulk of possession too and if it weren’t for Jack Duncan making several impressive saves, the score line would have been much more reflective of their terrific performance.

PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND – HENRIQUE

Adelaide United will be thanking their lucky stars that Brisbane decided to release this Brazilian wonder with the player putting in a quality performance for South Australians. Henrique was the super sub for Brisbane last season but he might be a super starter for Adelaide this season.

Having not started since round three, Henrique certainly proved he is worthy of more starts for Adelaide. His two goals were both stunners and he looked Adelaide’s most dangerous man in attack, with Sergi Guardiola not able to finish in front of goal on a few occasions.

Henrique was the biggest attacking force on the team, taking the more shots than any of his team mates and finding the back of the net on both of his on target attempts.

The gravity of his performance will not be lost on many as well, with Adelaide recording their first win of the season as they defend their A-League title from last season.

He recorded his first goal just before the half-hour mark with James Holland flicking on the ball to the player who was well outside the box. He released the shot perfectly, sending the ball just inside the post, giving Glen Moss no chance whatsoever.

His second goal was even more spectacular. Just 12 minutes after scoring their first goal, Adelaide had a free kick at the corner of the box. Isaias fed the ball to the unmarked Henrique (again, outside the box) who needed only one touch to release a stunner just inside the post of Glen Moss, again, giving the keeper no chance.

Not only two goals, but two stunning goals, both outside the box. It was quite the performance from Henrique.  

At 31 years old, Henrique is entering the twilight of his career, but with performances like this, no one will be questioning his ability to keep playing football in the A-League.

GOAL OF THE WEEKEND – HENRIQUE’S SECOND

We’ve already talked a bit about it but it was a very special goal. Henrique, just fresh off his spectacular first goal scored this beauty and to be honest, if we had to pick our top 3 goals from this week, Henrique would have both of his included.

Everything about this goal was perfect. With Wellington having all eleven inside the box, the instinct of Henrique and Isaias here was superb. Isaias found Henrique with a beautiful pass and the Brazilian, with no one around, could have taken a touch but he did not need it.

With his first touch he curled is beautifully past the diving Glen Moss, hitting the back of the net with power. Most of the time, those shots go well over the bar and the technique used in this shot cannot be underestimated.

Not only was the goal spectacular, it secured the game for Adelaide, giving them their first win of the season in their title defence. It was certainly a good reward for the almost 9,000 spectators who were at the ground despite their shaky start to the season.

A sublime goal for Henrique and let’s hope there’s more to come from the Brazilian wonder.

FLOP OF THE WEEKEND – CENTRAL COAST MARINERS

Ah, the Mariners… They’re a regular in this category. Who knows what happened of the weekend but whatever it was wasn’t pretty, particularly given the fact their largest crowd of their season was watching on.

You could excuse them somewhat. They played one of their youngest starting teams in the club’s history.

They opened the scoring inside five minutes with a well taken Blake Powell shot, finishing off some excellent lead up work by Storm Roux. That’s pretty much where it all ended for the Mariners. No more than two minutes later, it was 1-1 again after an excellent curling shot by Jumpei Kusukami.

Their youthful defence showed in the Wanderer’s second goal with Nicolas Martinez able to head home almost completely unchallenged as four Central Coast defenders simply stood flat footed. They went into the break only 2-1 down but their goals were certainly soft.

Coming back from the break, Wanderers made it another goal inside five minutes. This one was a tough one to concede. A slip by Scott Galloway allowed Scott Neville to attempt a pass across the face of goal which almost instantly rebounded off Jake McGing and into the back of the net.

They seemed to have been given a fighting chance on the hour mark when Trent Buhagiar was taken out by Jerrad Tyson with the keeper being given a straight red card. Lachlan Scott was the man to make way for Andrew Redmayne but the Mariners could not find anything going forward, even with the man advantage.

The Mariners were disappointing in attack. Apart from their goal they only had one more shot on target all game. Their last goal showed how poor they were with the defence an absolute mess as they conceded their fourth goal.

Paul Izzo has been an unlucky man this season. He has proven he is a quality keeper but he is consistently let down by his defence, summed up by that final goal where he was given no favours with a point blank range shot from Brendon Santalab, who had come on just two minutes earlier.

Their defence was pretty poor during the game but with absolutely nothing going forward, they were still the highlight of the team.

Every week is different for the Mariners at this point and their inconsistency has been their undoing. Some weeks they excite, other weeks they are poor as poor can be. This week was the latter and when you get a one-man advantage over your opponents for a third of the game and actually concede, you know you’ve done poorly.

REFEREE WATCH

A pretty good week for the referees yet again. They’ve certainly been on the money recently. The only real controversial call this week was the Wellington Phoenix penalty. Adam Parkhouse seemed to go down very easily under a challenge from Dylan McGowan and several Adelaide fans were upset by the decision.

The replay showed there was contact however it was very minimal and Parkhouse could certainly be accused of making the most of it. In the end, it wouldn’t matter too much as the subsequent penalty was saved however it may still be a talking point for some.