Young Sydney FC whacked by ruthless Blacktown City
Blacktown City have defeated Sydney FC 8-0 with a scintillating performance at Landen Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Blacktown’s quality proved too much for a Sydney side who had a significant number of their squad out due to the U19 Champions Cup Trophy in Germany.
Blacktown got the scoring underway in the 19th minute, in which a swift Blacktown attack found Travis Major in behind, with the winger squaring the ball across goal to Joey Gibbs.
The striker was free to find the back of the net, but was fouled while attempting the tap in.
Blacktown were awarded a penalty, and Major converted with a clinical, evasive strike into the bottom left corner to give the home side a deserved lead.
Three minutes later, Blacktown were given a golden chance to double their lead, with Jak O’Brien latching onto a beautiful ball in behind from Martin Fernandez and squaring it to Gibbs.
The forward had time to find the net from inside the box, but the striker was denied and Blacktown find the net.
However, the home side did find a second in the 29th minute, with another punctual movement in behind doubling Blacktown’s lead at Landen Stadium.
An incisive pass in behind from Major found the feet of Gibbs, who after converging towards goal, squared the ball across the box.
His low cross found the toe of Jak O’Brien, who made no mistake in tapping the ball home to secure an important second goal for his side, who were showing their quality in front of their home fans.
Sydney FC had their first chance in the 33rd minute of the match, with a switch finding Ayouk Mow, who beat Grant Lnych with an efficient dribble, before rifling the ball at the near post top corner from an astute angle, forcing a quick parry from Tristan Prendergast.
Blacktown went close to making it three off a corner, with a powerful strike from Lynch being saved strongly by Alexander Zaverdinos.
Off the corner that followed, Sydney was presented with a golden chance to halve the deficit, with Matthew Scarcella winning a 50 50 and then finding himself one on one against Tyren Burnie, with support quickly following.
Scarcella released Mow in behind, but a sensational recovery tackle from Burnie prevented Sydney from venturing further.
Blacktown clinically then added a third, with an overload against Sydney’s backline allowing goalkeeper Prendergast to directly find Gibbs in behind.
The forward casually took the ball around Zaverdinos, before finishing into an empty net.
Two minutes later, Blacktown had a chance to add another, with a clever one two between Jak O’Brien and Travis Major finding the former with time to shoot in the box, but O’Brien’s effort was blocked.
However, Blacktown did make it 4-0 in the first half, with a good pass from Burnie finding Fernandez in behind, and the winger making no mistake in casually passing the ball past Zaverdinos to cap off a scintillating half from the home side.
Just a minute into the second half, Blacktown had the chance to score once more, with Major being fed on transition and entering a one on one against the goalkeeper, but his shot clipped the wrong side of the post and dribbled out for a goalkick.
Blacktown added a fifth in the 54th minute with another clinical counter-attack.
A strong run and pass from Fernandez released Gibbs in behind, and the striker found the net with a unique near post finish from his weak foot to earn himself a brace.
Fernandez was the next player to find the back of the net for the second time in the match, with the winger receiving a pass in behind from substitute Julian Rodriguez and once more stylishing converting in a one on one.
Substitute Mitchell Mallia made it seven for Blacktown, converting with a slashed right-footed strike after an agile, weaving run earnt him space in the box.
Six minutes later, Mallia scored a second with a similar finish; after playing a one-two with Adam Berry, Malia’s jinked back onto his right-foot with a charming nutmeg, before lashing the ball into the roof of the net.
Blacktown coach Mark Crittenden was happy with his side’s performance and the football they played.
“It’s nice to score some goals,” he said.
“We thought we’d been playing some really good footy and weren’t getting the results we wanted to get, and we actually said before the game that we thought we were close to hurting someone and today we did.
“Credit to them, they kept pushing and squeezing and pressing us, and they’d been away, but at the end of the day you can only play what’s in front of you and it was a good result.”
Meanwhile, Sydney FC coach Jim van Weeren was disappointed, while crediting Blacktown for their attacking play.
“I think it was a fair result,” he said.
“I think Blacktown were very good when they went direct and rightly so punished us for some really naïve and silly defensive moments.”
Match Stats
Blacktown City FC 8 (Major 20’, J. O’Brien 29’, Gibbs 41’, 54’, Fernandez 45’, 68’, Mallia 76’, 82’)
Sydney FC 0
Sunday 7 April, 2024
Landen Stadium
Referee: Danny Horstead
Assistant Referees: Arinath Gobinath and Thomas Dale
Fourth Official: Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Blacktown City FC: 1. Tristan Prendergast (C), 4. Lachlan Campbell, 5. Grant Lynch (3. Jayden Trenkoski 55’), 6. Adam Berry, 7. Travis Major (19. Julian Rodriguez 66’), 8. Jak O’Brien (14. Mitchell Mallia 55’), 12. Tyren Burnie (29. Zachary Butler 79’), 17. Martin Fernandez, 18. Nicholas O’Brien, 22. Jacob Maniti, 23. Joey Gibbs (9. Reuben Awaritefe 66’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Cayden Henderson
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Sydney FC: 40. Alexander Zaverdinos, 2. Noah Mathie, 3. Tyler Williams, 4. Joseph Calusic (14. Jared Middleton 45’), 5. Meliwethu Nkomo, 7. Marin France, 9. Bailey Callaghan (35. Jai Rose 66’), 10. Will Kennedy (C) (33. Mathais Macallister 55’), 17. Ayouk Mow (8. Lachlan Middleton 45’), 18. Matthew Scarcella, 24. Wataru Kamijo (6. Dylan Rose 55’)
Substitutes Not Used: 30. Sean Suzuki
Yellow Cards: Calusic 2’, Williams 20’, France 36’
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – Martin Fernandez (BC)
2 – Joey Gibbs (BC)
1 – Tyren Burnie (BC)
By Jack George (@JackGeorge0004)
