Sydney FC's Italian star Alessandro Del Piero hugs match-winning goalscorer Rhyan Grant during the Sky Blues' come-from-behind win at Allianz Stadium yesterday. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
FOR 84 minutes Sydney FC's season was all but dead and buried.
Down 1-0, having been outplayed for three quarters of the game and struggling to break down a resolute Melbourne Heart defence, it seemed the Sky Blues were headed for a 10th loss to fall further behind in the race for the top six.
However, the Sky Blues continued to hang in and, showing some remarkable self belief, overcame the odds to produce a stunning finish that produced two goals in five minutes on the way to recording an unlikely 2-1 win at Allianz Stadium yesterday.
The Heart was left shattered after watching Richard Garcia's 24th minute goal cancelled out by Brett Emerton's 85th minute equaliser before the ever reliable Rhyan Grant popped up with an injury time match winner.
Grant's goal sent the 13,000-strong crowd into raptures and came after a delightful cross from Alessandro Del Piero.
It was a much needed win for Sydney, a result that not only took it off the bottom of the table (into ninth spot) for the first time in eight weeks but put it within two points of the top six in what is a congested table.
But the talking point will be the ugly scenes just before half-time involving Italian legend Del Piero and Sydney teammate Ali Abbas.
It erupted when Sydney coach Frank Farina decided to replace Abbas with Blake Powell for tactical reasons after just 39 minutes.
Only moments earlier Abbas had been involved in an exchange of words with Del Piero.
As the visibly upset Iraqi international sat down on the bench, Del Piero came across to the sideline and could be seen verbally abusing him.
The pair exchanged words before Del Piero walked away. But the Italian came back and again launched into his teammate before resuming his position.
At halftime, Abbas slowly got up off the bench as a seething Del Piero made for the tunnel. Sensing more drama, Sydney goalkeeper coach Zeljko Kalac moved in between the two before shepherding Abbas up the tunnel.
It is unclear what provoked the incident and Farina wasn't about to shed any more light after match press conference.
There were suggestions Del Piero had instigated Abbas's substitution after the Iraqi chose to keep the ball instead of looking up to see the Italian and Emerton unmarked and in space on the right during the first half.
Farina revealed he took Abbas off because the side lacked attacking punch and he thought Powell's pace would be a better option.
"It was a purely tactical change more than anything. It was my call and I won't apologise for it," Farina said. "We were playing at home and we should be bullying the opposition but we were being bullied in that first half. When that happens you have to respond.
"It's good to see the players fire up over that. I'd rather that any day of week than people who just accept things."
Asked what was said between the players, Farina replied: "You don't have to worry about that.
"It doesn't need to be made public. It will stay within the dressing room and always will. It's all sorted. I've seen a lot worse on the field and in the rooms."
Sydney later tried to play down the incident with chief executive Tony Pignata posting a picture on Twitter of a laughing Del Piero and Abbas embracing.
Sydney has now taken seven points out of a possible 12 from its past four games and appears to be making steady progress under the caretaker coach, who took charge eight games ago. Under Farina the Sky Blues have won three, drawn two and lost three.
Farina admitted his side played poorly. "It was ugly. We did not play free flowing, beautiful football," he said. "But you don't change attitude and mindset overnight. You have to play the full 90 minutes in this league. If you do you are always a chance."
The loss was devastating for Heart and coach John Aloisi. A win would have put the Victorians into fifth spot. Instead they are a point outside the six.
"It's hard to comprehend at the moment and to find any positives," Aloisi said. "If there is a positive it is we have a five-day turnaround (until the next game against Adelaide United), so we can get over this loss pretty quickly."
No comments:
Post a Comment