Mathys Tel’s cracking free-kick was cancelled out by Takahiro Sekine before a stunning save by Martin Dubravka in the resulting penalty shootout saw us triumph against Sydney FC in our first game of the Sydney Super Cup at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday.
We dominated the 90 minutes for large spells and were well worthy of the lead given to us when Tel picked out the top corner in emphatic style just before the half-hour mark, later hitting the woodwork through Conor Gallagher and half-time substitute Luca Williams-Barnett, albeit without managing to convert our openings into goals.
Sydney punished us when Sekine pounced on a deflected through ball to equalise 10 minutes after the break but despite our continued dominance – Yang Min-Hyeok missing two chances set up by Andy Robertson, who came on wearing the captain’s armband for his first appearance in our colours – we couldn’t find a second goal in normal time.
With the scoreline at 1-1, we went straight to penalties and after Joe Lacey missed Sydney’s third kick, Jamie Donley was denied by Gus Hoefsloot before Dubravka quite spectacularly dived away to his right to save Alexandar Popovic’s effort. That gave Dane Scarlett the chance to win it for us which he duly did, rounding off a 4-2 shootout victory and another useful run-out on the second outing of our pre-season tour.
We pressed aggressively right from the off and caused Sydney problems, Tel firing straight at Hoefsloot after latching onto the keeper’s miscued pass while Manor Solomon – lively on the right wing – set up Gallagher for a side-footed shot that was blocked. Rhys Youlley tested Dubravka with his side’s first attempt on 24 minutes while Ben Davies couldn’t quite connect with Tel’s free-kick delivery at the other end before the latter broke the deadlock from another set-piece in some style with 29 on the watch, curling a peach of a shot into the top corner after Solomon was upended.
Gallagher hit the near post soon afterwards as we sought a second while Rio Kyerematen was denied by Hoefsloot for a second time in the game, although Mathias Macallister gave Dubravka a scare when his attempted lob from the half-way line flew just off-target. The same player fired wide in the lead-up to half-time and although Williams-Barnett fizzed a shot against Sydney’s crossbar less than two minutes after coming on, our opponents drew level on 55 minutes when they broke through centrally and a pass was diverted by the leg of defender Kota Takai into the path of Sekine, who slid home on his first start for the Sky Blues.
Robertson impressed on the left after his introduction and sent in two superb deliveries for Yang – the young forward off-target with his first attempt and going close with a header with his second – before the Scotland international himself saw a low angled drive clawed away by Hoefsloot. Williams-Barnett tried a couple of shots late on, but with no further goals, we went on to win the shootout, much to the delight of our many thousands of fans in attendance.
