United 58 snatch last gasp winner at APIA in thriller
A last gasp free-kick from Matt Sim has helped Sydney United 58 snatch a dramatic 3-2 win against APIA Leichhardt at Lambert Park on Saturday.
Five goals, including three penalties of which two were converted by APIA’s Blake Powell, and plenty of end-to-end action made for a most entertaining affair as United 58 took home all three competition points
Tomi Vidovic’s men took the lead through Patrick Antelmi before Powell scored the first of his two penalties right at the end of the first half.
After regaining the lead early in the second thanks to Jackson Khoury, Powell once again struck back for APIA before Sim’s cruel goal sealed the deal for the visitors.
The opening chance of the game arrived in the 3rd minute when Antelmi was clear on goal but his powerful finish was well saved by Ivan Necevski who deflected the ball onto the post. It really should have been the visitors in front at that stage.
A few minutes later Sim fired from just outside the box, but his shot was fractionally high as the home side absorbed some more pressure.
APIA Leichhardt’s reply was from Sammy McIllhatton a few minutes later, but his shot was beautifully saved by Daniel Nizic as the visitors’ bench breathed a collective sigh of relief.
United 58 hit the lead in the 21st minute when a corner reached Antelmi at the far post who headed home from close range notching up his ninth goal of the season as he continued his quest for the 2021 NPL NSW Men’s Golden Boot award. It was too simple and APIA’s coach Paul Dee must have been shaking his head in dismay at conceding such a goal.
APIA made a forced substitution in the 29th minute when warhorse defender Paul Galimi came off with a pectoral injury and was replaced by Powell as Paul Dee shuffled his formation once more.
In the 32nd minute, Themba Muata-Marlow was adjudged to have fouled Antelmi in the box and referee Hassan Jomaa awarded the visitors a penalty. From the spot, Antelmi himself fired ferociously into the bottom right-hand corner but Necevski saved brilliantly down low to his left.
Right at the death of the first half, Andreas Agamemnonos pushed Harry Callahan in the box and the home side this time was awarded a spot-kick. Up stepped Blake Powell who showed all his experience to equalise the ledger by sending Daniel Nizic the wrong way. It was to be Powell’s first goal of the 2021 campaign.
The second half started with a golden chance to Sydney United 58: the action flowed upfield and Sim fired an absolute rocket that Necevski somehow managed to turn over the crossbar. It was a miraculous save as the veteran gloveman showed all of his class and experience and certainly went up there as one of the ‘Saves of the Season’.
In the 52nd minute, Sean Symons fired from the edge of the box but ‘keeper Nizic somehow got down well to make a great save.
In the 63rd minute, Sydney United 58 reclaimed the lead when the ball flowed across from the left to the right and young gun Khoury simply struck home with a straight drive.
The third penalty of the game occurred in the 82nd minute when a flying Peter Kekeris was taken down by ‘keeper Nizic and the referee had no hesitation and pointed to the penalty spot. Powell again from the spot worked his magic and smashed the ball in the back of the net as Nizic was comprehensively beaten.
Well into stoppage time Sydney United 58 scored the winning goal. A useless foul was conceded by Adrian Ucchino on the edge of the box. Sim, through his vast experience at this range, fired in a beautiful free-kick for the second successive week, which was deflected into the back of the net off APIA’s defensive wall and Necevski was left wrong-footed.
The hosts had an amazing opportunity to snatch an equaliser in the final moment of the match as a free-kick swung inside the penalty area only for Gian Fiorese to blast his effort over the bar.
After the game, Sydney United 58 coach Tomi Vidovic was pleased with his team’s efforts and happy that they secured the full points
“Yes I am very happy and I think we deserved the three points tonight,” he said.
“We conceded from two penalties and we missed a penalty ourselves, so at 2-0 up it would have been a very different game.
“Overall we knew that this game would be very, very difficult because they had won their last three games. They are a well-coached side with some very good players.
“I was particularly pleased with my side which played some very good football against a pressing and physical opponent, but we worked very hard and at the end of the day I think we deserved the points.”
APIA Leichhardt’s coach Paul Dee on the other hand also pleased with his side even though they came away empty-handed but were never out of the game.
“It was a very competitive game in which they did well in the first half and we did well to go into the break level,” he said.
“We changed the structure a bit in the second half and it started to pay dividends as it put a fair bit of pressure on them. We did very well to get back to 2-2 but a deflected goal, in the end, got us, which is disappointing.
“Our players know that they were very competitive throughout that whole game and there are still positives that we can take out of it despite a very disappointing end. We had a lot of belief in ourselves especially in the second half.”
When asked for a comment on his evergreen goalkeeper Ivan Necevski he didn’t hesitate and said: “He is still one of the best goalkeepers in this league and he is a really important part of our team and had another good game tonight.”
Match Stats
APIA LEICHHARDT: 2 (Powell 45’ + 1, Powell 82’)
SYDNEY UNITED 58 FC: 2 (Antelmi 21’, Khoury 64’, Sim 90’+4)
Saturday 8th May 2021
Lambert Park, Leichhardt
Referee: Hassan Jomaa
Assistant Referees: J.Adabjou, A.Folacouridis
Fourth Official: M.Ibrahim
APIA LEICHHARDT: 1.Ivan Necevski, 2.William Mutch, 3.Paul Galimi (9.Blake Powell 29’), 6.Harry Callahan (19.Peter Kekeris 72’), 8.Corey Biczo (7.Tynan Diaz 72’), 11.Mathieu Cordier, 15.Themba Muata-Marlow (23.Gian Fiorese 83’), 16.Sean Symons, 18.Adrian Ucchino, 20.Sammy McIllhatton (10.Franco Parisi 72’), 21.Michael Kouta.
Substitutes not used: 22.Luke Turnbull
Yellow Cards: McIllhatton 66’, Ucchino 90’+2
Red Card: Nil
SYDNEY UNITED 58: 1.Daniel Nizic, 2.Cristian Gonzalez, 4.Adrian Vlastelica, 7.Jackson Khoury, 8.Matthew Sim, 9.Patrick Antelmi (6.Christopher Payne 70’), 10.Devante Clut, 14.Andreas Agamemnonos, 16.Jacob Poscoliero, 18.Glen Trifiro, 22.Yianni Fragogiannis (3.Jordan Roberts 81’).
Substitutes not used: 21.Josip Orlovic, 13.Joran Ivancic, 15.Tariq Maia, 23.Luke Vlastelica
Yellow Cards: Gonzalez 47’, Nizic 83’, Roberts 90’+4
Red Card: Nil
Player Ratings
3 -Matthew Sim (SU)
2 – Ivan Necevski (AL)
1 – Andreas Agamemnonos (SU)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Joe Russo
