Sydney FC salvage late draw in Big Blue

Another page was written in the chapters of the Big Blue and again it was an entertaining and tight match that ended with a 1-1 draw between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.

Melbourne Victory got off to a dream start in the third minute as Archie Thompson played Connor Pain in down the left, which allowed the youngster to cross for Mark Milliagan who ran on to the ball and slammed it home, stunning the crowd.

It took some time but Sydney started to settle and slowly they took control of the match when Terry Antonios saw his effort saved by Ante Covic.

Sydney piled on the pressure and were narrowly shy of getting back on level terms after Nathan Coe came out of his area and handled the ball allowing Alessandro Del Piero to step up but send his free-kick just wide.

It was a physical encounter, forcing the referee to his pocket several times but Sydney were left aggrieved with the officials late on in the first half when Leigh Broxham appeared to handle the ball in the area only for the referee to not call for a penalty.

That frustration faded right before half time as Sydney FC were lucky not to go a man down as Seb Ryall probably should have been shown a second yellow for his challenge on Pain but he escaped as Sydney kept 11 men on the park but went to the break 1-0 down.

Sydney FC came back from the break in better shape and had two good chances in the opening ten minutes, the first a tester from Ali Abbas before Del Piero made space for himself and forced a good save out of Coe.

Just moments after that save Marco Rojas could well have pulled the game away from Sydney FC as he was put through but he struggled to control his first touch, allowing Ivan Necevski to save.

Sydney FC looked certain to equalize when Victory gave away a penalty for a handball but Del Piero saw his effort saved by a superb Coe, leaving the home fans nervous.

Sydney's frustration was compounded in the 72nd minute when Del Piero hit the woodwork before Rojas spurned three good chances for the visitors.

With five minutes remaining, Sydney FC finally broke through with Yairo Yau scoring the vital goal that kept Sydney in sixth place.

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, Australia Football Examiner

Chris Hockman is a passionate soccer fan, originally from Australia, Chris moved to the USA in early 2010. In Australia he worked for A-League club, Central Coast Mariners, one cup, one premiership, two grandfinals & an Asian Champions League campaign were particular highlights, along with...

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