The encounter was almost postponed due to torrential rain in Sydney this morning, but the Melburnians will be thankful that it wasn’t, with the Sky blues looking tired on the back of their midweek effort in Kawasaki on Wednesday night.

The first half was a dire affair, with not a shot on target to speak of. Entertainment had to be found in other forms, like listening to the unrepeatable insults coming from the benches and the crowd.

The win is City’s first away win against Sydney in four years, and their first win in six matches. Meanwhile, Sydney were unable to manage a single shot on target, a worrying statistic given the riches of attacking talent at their disposal.

Sydney will be looking to bounce back against the Roar at Suncorp in Round 23, while City will see their clash with the Wanderers as a golden opportunity to build momentum ahead of the finals series.

BEST

Football!

News broke early this afternoon that torrential rain in the harbour city may see the clash postponed. However, an afternoon pitch inspection gave the match the all clear, and thank God for that, because, quite frankly what else is there to do at 7pm on a Sunday night?

Besides, it proved to be the correct decision. While the pitch was slightly heavy, it was more than playable and allowed for some decent football to take place. If we can play A-League games at the dustbowl (A.K.A Spotless Stadium), we can definitely play at a damp Leichardt.

Rostyn Griffiths

Playing his 100thA-League game, the veteran defensive midfielder screened his backline beautifully. Griffiths was even more impressive on the ball, spraying clinical passes left and right, often relieving the pressure being applied by the Sydney attackers.

Shayon Harrison

Hardly touched the ball in the first half yet the loanee was instrumental in the second 45 minutes. Harrison finished coolly on two occasions to gain City an unlikely three points away in Sydney.

Aside from his brace, Harrison also showed good skill and persistence to hold the ball up, allowing Ritchie De Laet and Jamie Maclaren to get into overlapping positions, often whilst holding off much stronger defenders like Jacob Tratt and Alex Wilkinson.

The battle for second place 

Sunday’s result all but wrapped up the Premiers Plate for Perth Glory, if it wasn’t already so. However the loss reignited the battle for second place following Victory’s win over the Roar at Marvel Stadium last night.

Sydney have a one-point lead over the Victory, with the sides due to face each other at the SCG on April 6. Both Sydney and Victory still have to face the Glory, in what will be key matches in the race for second place.

WORST

The crowd

An understandably sparse crowd given the wild rain as well as the uncertainty over whether the match would even go ahead. Credit to The Cove who still turned up in decent numbers and made the encounter marginally more watchable.

The first half 

Zero shots on target after 45 minutes: it feels a bit like watching a match where Jose Mourinho is managing both sides.

Not what you’d expect given the presence of players such as Milos Ninkovic, Adam Le Fondre, Reza Ghoochannedjad, Jamie Maclaren and Shayon Harrison.

Luke Brattan

Is this guy the biggest myth in Australian football? Yes, he occasionally pops up with an absolute banger, but most games he just seems hell bent on causing a kerfuffle.

In the first 35 minutes alone he made it his personal mission to aggressively confront Paulo Retre and Rhyan Grant, all whilst failing to deliver a single quality ball into Maclaren.

Sydney’s attack

A worrying night for Sydney FC, who were unable to penetrate the City defensive unit. Sydney’s attacking phases never really looked like yielding goals, and City found it relatively easy to get the ball away from the danger zone. 

Despite the double-threat of Le Fondre and Ghoochinejad, Sydney could not muster a single attempt on target, making for a surprisingly easy night for Eugene Galekovic.