Sydney FC has secured a crucial point in the Big Blue with back-to-back late goals ensure they remained unbeaten in four games and put an end to Mata’s Melbourne magic.  

Sydney FC 2 (Stamatelopoulos 73’, Arslan 75’) draw with Melbourne Victory 2 (Mata 34’, Nduka 69’) 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED 

7’ | QUINTAL SHOT – Quintal and Arslan link up with a classy 1-2 to find Tiago through traffic for a shot within the 18-yard box, but the shot is just sent right of the target for a Melbourne goal kick.  

27’ | VERGOS SHOT – A ball Is tapped around the body of Alex Grant by Vergos giving him possession from 10 yards out however the shot is played high and the scoreboard unchanged.  

Popovic is kicked in the head challenging for the ball. Photo: Jaime Castaneda.

 33’ | MATA GOAL – A forward run from Velupillay looks threatening and forces Quispe to draw a foul giving a free kick from 25 yards out which is struck by Mata to the top right of the goal and out of Devenish’s reach to secure Victory a 1-0 lead. 

 45’ | LAST MINUTE SCRAMBLE – A Sydney corner sees the ball float to the back post for Popovic to header but the it hits the crossbar and when he goes to head it again it’s cleared by with a high foot.  

 62’ | STAMATELOPOULOS CHANCE – A Victor Campuzano left footed cross soars past Melbourne’s last defender to find Stamatelopoulos in front of goal; however, the Sydney forward can’t make the right contact with the high ball and the shot flies wide.  

 69’ | NDUKA GOAL – Valadon receives the ball for Melbourne on his left and drives to the goal line before cutting the ball back hard to Nduka, who is able to take a touch, turn and slot it on the ground past Devenish to take Melbourne to a pretty 2-0 lead.  

 73’ | STAMATELOPOULOS SCORES – Ben Garuccio finds the space to cross the ball into the box which finds the head of Stamatelopoulos who directs the ball past Warshawsky to keep Sydney alive at 2-1.  

75’ – ARSLAN GOAL – A Toure fast break from kickoff finds two Sky Blues against 1 Melbourne keeper. Toure does well to square the ball back to Arslan for an easy tap in to bring Sydney the equaliser they were looking for.  

Match Report:

Sydney FC has come back from two goals down to secure a big draw with Melbourne Victory in the last Big Blue of the regular season.  

Both teams were searching to secure three points in a tight title race. Victory entered four games unbeaten while Sydney sat as the favourite, four points above Melbourne on the ladder.  

The game opened with a high energy Sydney FC being met with an equally passionate Melbourne Victory. Both teams played the first half with a very active midfield and big chances were kept to a minimum. Possession was shared with both teams passing methodically, with mistakes rare to see. 

 The 33rd minute of the game saw Velupillay threaten Sydney FC’s defence and force Quispe to foul the attacker outside the box leading to a Juan Mata free kick which was stuck into the top right of the goal outside of Devenish-Meares’ reach.  

Popovic hit the bar with a header from a Sydney FC corner in the 45th minute and from the scramble in front of goal the ball is cleared to deny Sydney’s hopes of an equaliser before halftime.  

Ben Garuccio looks on

The second half saw momentum shift with Sydney FC using a cross from Garuccio to Stamatelopoulos and a fast break from Toure to Arslan to cancel out Mata’s free kick and Nduka’s six yard goal in the 69th minute to grab Sydney an ever important point in a close title race. 

What they said: Ufuk Talay: “I thought we actually started the game alright. There was a bit of miscommunication in the first half and we turned the ball over, which led to a free-kick on the edge of our box. To be honest, it’s a world-class finish from Mata and there’s not much H can do about that one.

“The second goal was a little bit sloppy defensively. I think they only had one player in the box and we had enough numbers to deal with the situation, but we allowed him to turn and score. That said, I still think we created enough chances to go out there and win the game.

“I thought the response was positive and it showed good character from the boys. After the second goal we made a change which helped us, gave us some pace down the side, and that’s where the second goal came from as well. Overall, to come back from 2–0 down against a good side like Victory and walk away with a point is positive in that sense.

The Cove in full voice.

LINEUPS: SYDNEY FC | 5. Alex GRANT, 7. Piero QUISPE, 9. Victor CAMPUZANO, (11. Abel WALATEE (90’+2’)), 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES, 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL, (22. Mathias MACALLISTER (90’+2’)), 23. Rhyan GRANT, 24. Paul OKON JNR, (35. Al HASSAN TOURE (70’)), 41. Alexandar POPOVIC, 70. Ahmet ARSLAN, 80. Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS 

Unused Substitutions:  29. Joe LACEY, 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS, 32. Marcel TISSERAND, 36. Rhys YOULLEY 

Yellow Cards | 23. Rhyan GRANT (44’) , Victor CAMPUZANO(57’) 

Red Cards | N/A 

Manager | Ufuk Talay 
 

MELBOURNE VICTORY: 7. Reno PISCOPO (83’), 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, (10. Denis GENREAU (83’)), 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, (14. Matthew GRIMALDI (68’)), 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, (16. Joshua INSERRA (85’)), 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 34. Xavier STELLA, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 44. Charles NDUKA (68’), 64. Juan MATA 

 Unused Substitutions: 19. Jing REEC, 25. Jack DUNCAN,  

 Yellow Cards | 22. Joshua RAWLINS (15’), Juan MATA (57’) 

Red Cards |  N/A 

Manager | Arthur Diles 

Referee | Lachlan KEEVERS 

Venue | Allianz Stadium 

Attendance | 15, 071