Sydney FC grab vital victory over St George City
Sydney FC have responded to two defeats in a row with a 3-1 win over St George City at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on a chilly Friday evening.
It was the home side who had the first significant opportunity of the match, with a stunning save from Jack Kenny preventing an early opening goal.
An interception from Lachlan Middleton turned into a perfect pass through to Mathias Macallister, who sat down his defender inside the box.
With just Kenny to beat, Macallister couldn’t find the required finish, with Kenny making a stellar stop from close range.
Off the second phase of the corner, another chance fell the way of Macallister, with the striker peeling off to the back post, and almost seeing a narrowly deflected shot sneak in the far corner.
It was a strong start for the Sky Blues, who forced another save from Kenny in the 13th minute, with Lachlan Middleton cutting inside onto his left foot and seeing his shot tipped over the bar.
The 15 minutes that followed was a tense period of football, with neither side able to assert any real authority in the match, or create a significant chance.
In the 28th minute, St George had their first chance of the game, with a good ball from Goncalo Agrelos releasing Marc McNulty in behind.
The forward received the ball and played a clever, reverse pass into the feet of William Kounnas, who saw his low effort parried away by Alexander Zaverdinos.
It was much of the same for the rest of the second stanza, with chances few and far between, but just before halftime, a sweeping attack from Sydney won a penalty, giving them the perfect chance to head into the sheds with the lead.
A brilliant drive from Taye Hedley gave him the space to find Macallister in the box, who looked to turn past his marker, but was upended in the process.
From the spot, Macallister confidently stepped forward, and found the back of the net beautifully with a nonchalant Panenka.
And just as the first half looked to come to a close, Sydney shocked by doubling their lead, with Macallister again involved.
A long ball off a freekick from Reef Farias evaded the jump of Nathan Grimaldi, falling into Macallister’s path, who took a perfect touch inside the box to lead to a one on one with Kenny.
St George’s goalkeeper brilliantly stopped Macallister’s rifling shot, but the ball bounced off Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika in the most unfortunate of circumstances, with the pace on the save resulting in the central defender incidentally touching the ball into his own net.
It was the cruellest end to the first half the away side, who now had to launch a significant comeback to gain anything from this game.
However, they made a strong start to the second stanza, with substitutes Jesse Photi, Paolo Mitry and Dominic Cox injecting quality and energy into the side.
And in the 63rd minute, they found their way back into the match, with Marc McNulty halving Sydney’s lead.
After holding the ball in their opponents’ box under heavy pressure, a pass from Mitry found McNulty on the edge of the box.
The striker curled a low effort just inside the near post, which slipped through the hands of Alexander Zaverdinos to find the back of the net.
But St George struggled to build on the momentum following their goal, with Sydney defending easily against any attempted attacks.
In the 79th minute, the Sky Blues had a strong chance to put the game to bed by adding a third goal, but couldn’t capitalise.
On transition, Lachlan Middleton was released in behind, and played a perfect pass across goal to Zac Fowler, who was free at the far post.
However, with the goalkeeper to beat, Fowler couldn’t find the required connection, with the shot ricocheting wide off his boot.
Seven minutes later though, Sydney did find their goal, with Marin France netting a stunning solo strike to confirm the three points for his side.
Picking up the ball just 10 metres into the attacking half, the winger strode forwards, before cutting inside to beat his marker.
He jinked past another couple of St George players to arrive on the edge of the box, where he curled a beautiful strike past Kenny – a brilliant dribble complimented by a sensational finish.
It capped off a resolute, professional performance for the Sky Blues, who move provisionally to seventh place with the three points on Friday night.
Match Stats
Sydney FC 3 (Macallister 45’, Monahan-Vaiika (o.g.) 45+2’, France 86’)
St George City FA 1 (McNulty 63’)
Friday 6 June, 2025
Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre
Referee: Thomas Dale
Assistant Referees: Patrick Teleki and Alexis Johnson
Fourth Official: Blake Sanchez-Cruz
Sydney FC: 12. Alexander Zaverdinos, 4. Joseph Calusic, 8. Reef Farias (3. Kyle Shaw 80’), 9. Mathias Macallister (33. Marin France 60’), 10. Taye Hedley, 14. Jared Middleton, 25. Ethan Dyer, 27. Lachlan Middleton (C), 29. Joe Lacey (15. Samuel Lancaster 74’), 39. Dylan Rose, 47. Corey Cronin (22. Zac Fowler 74’)
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Jacob Cremen-Cowan, 7. Nickolas Alfaro
Yellow Cards: Calusic 27’, Macallister 45’
Red Cards: None
St George City FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Matthew Wahby (7. Nathan Roberts 82’), 3. Caio De Godoy (23. Dakota Askew 73’), 4. Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika, 9. Marc McNulty, 11. Fumoto Kamada, 15. Nathan Grimaldi, 16. William Kounnas (19. Jesse Photi), 18. Goncalo Agrelos (10. Paolo Mitry), 25. Brodie Clarkson, 33. Louis Khoury (8. Dominic Cox)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Cameron Kemp
Yellow Cards: De Godoy 32’, Wahby 44’
Red Cards: None
Player ratings:
3 – Mathias Macallister (SYD)
2 – Lachlan Middleton (SYD)
1 – Marc McNulty (SGC)
