Central Coast’s Nick Montgomery being closed down by Sydney young gun Terry Antonis
Sydney FC made its way back into finals contention on Saturday night after a convincing 2-0 win at home against the Central Coast Mariners.
The game saw a fast paced opening period with both teams looking dangerous in attack. Sydney had the edge over the Mariners despite having the worst first half record of any team in the A League.
In the 25th minute, Sebastian Ryall cut in from the right wing to create space at the edge of the box. His left-footed shot took a deflection off the leg of a Mariners player and made its way into the back of the net to give Sydney FC a 1-0 lead.
Central Coast continued to have more of the possession but it was Sydney FC that was looking dangerous for the remainder of the half.
The second half continued to see Sydney play with more purpose. Perhaps it was playing three games in seven days that had the Mariners looking uncharacteristically lethargic.
In the 73rd minute, a nice one-two combination between substitute Joel Chianese with Terry Antonis saw Chianese outpace the Central Coast defence and calmy slot the ball past goalkeeper Matt Ryan to make it 2-0 to Sydney FC.
Both teams managed to create a couple of golden opportunities to score but the chances were wasted. The final score was 2-0 to Sydney who are now back in 5th place. The Central Coast Mariners can feel the Premiers Plate slipping away. They are now 5 points behind leaders Western Sydney Wanderers, with only three games remaining.
Sydney FC 2 (Sebastian Ryall 25′, Joel Chianese 73rd’)
Central Coast Mariners 0
Man of the match: Adam Griffiths
Crowd: 16,155
