Sydney FC 1 Melbourne Victory 1
If Sydney FC qualify for the finals, the excruciating nature of their struggle could be summed up by the draw with Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
After trailing for nearly an hour and a half after Mark Milligan's third-minute tap in goal for the Victory, Sydney FC created chance after chance, yielding nothing until, on 85 minutes, replacement Yairo Yau latched onto Rhyan Grant's head on from a Alessandro Del Piero corner - Sydney's 16th of the night. The emotion was one of relief, frustration and desperation as Sydney sought a winner they felt they richly deserved after pressing all night and relentlessly pummelling their opponents' goal.
There was no winner, however, leaving the Sky Blues precariously placed with two rounds to go, sitting in equal fifth but possibly falling out of the top six on Sunday.
From the moment goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic was dropped after arriving at the ground late due to traffic, there was a sense the home side might face some stop signs.
Almost immediately they were steamrolled when former Sydney defender Milligan pounced on a cross from the lightening fast Connor Pain, silencing the crowd of 22,333. Sydney's best chance of many came on the hour when Del Piero lined up a penalty, only to see it expertly saved by goalkeeper Nathan Coe. The Victory defence, including debutant Dylan Murnane, was the foundation of the Victory's effort. Milligan's early goal had set the pattern for the first half, with Sydney looking to build pressure through Del Piero and Brett Emerton in midfield and Melbourne using their pace up front to strike on the counter. The goal had come in that sort of fashion, with Archie Thompson's through-ball crossed by Pain for Milligan, who beat two defenders to tap the ball in.
Pain was a problem maker, especially early, harassing Seb Ryall and Adam Griffiths at every turn while Thompson was, as usual, a handful to contain. On 18 minutes, the pair linked dangerously again, but Thompson's shot was deflected away by Griffiths.
But Sydney had many more opportunities to equalise. A series of Del Piero free kicks sailed wide, including one when Coe grabbed the ball just outside the penalty area and it was noticed by the assistant referee. The keeper was given a yellow card for remonstrating beyond referee Strebre Delovski's tolerance.
The intensity grew in the latter part of the half. Ali Abbas was shown yellow for backchatting and Ryall was lucky not to be sent off after a nasty foul on Milligan.
The second half began with a long-range shot from Abbas that went just wide and a turn-and-shoot opportunity for Del Piero that ended safely in Coe's grasp. Melbourne should have doubled their lead on 55 minutes, but Marco Rojas's one-on-one with the Ivan Necevski was saved.
The penalty came on the hour, when a defensive scrap ended in a handball, but Del Piero's shot low and right was parried away by Coe. Sydney continued the onslaught, but time and again Coe and the Melbourne defence were up to the task. In an end-to-end crescendo, Thompson was unable to capitalise on a one-on-one breakaway, driven wide by Necevski and the move breaking down. Rojas did no better, pushing his final touch just wide of Necevski's left post. Sydney's equaliser finally came but, try as they might, there was to be no final twist.
SYDNEY FC 1 (Yairo Yau 85m) drew MELBOURNE VICTORY 1 (Mark Milligan 3m) at Allianz Stadium. Crowd: 22,233. Referee: Strebre Delovski.
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