Sydney FC head coach Ufuk Talay has hit out at the match officials following his side’s heartbreaking Isuzu UTE A-League Semi-Final exit at the hands of Central Coast Mariners.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Sydney FC tried and ultimately failed to overcome the Mariners’ slender advantage on a raucous night in Gosford in a game that was littered with refereeing controversies.
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Particularly drawing scorn from Talay was referee Alireza Faghani’s decision not to award a penalty following an incident inside the box where Mariners defender Dan Hall appeared to trip Sydney defender Jordan Courtney-Perkins inside the box.
“Well they were bad decisions, definitely,” said Talay when speaking to Paramount+. “The first one on Jordie is definitely a pen. The second one with a handball in the second half.
“I don’t think Fabio can do anything, I don’t believe that Brian Kaltak could get that ball off the line,” continued Talay when discussing the officials’ decision to not award Robert Mak’s second half goal – which appeared to have crossed the line – due to Fabio Gomes interfering with play from an offside position.
“For me the disappointing part is the game wasn’t decided by the players, it was decided by the officials.
He added: “You know, we speak the truth. We always praise people when they do well and sometimes people need to be accountable for the decisions that they make.
“The reality is the game is about goals and I think we rely on the person in the box too much and the way we look at things is how we can stop goals from happening.”
When pressed for further comment on the decisions in his post-game press conference, Talay doubled down on his belief that the officials’ calls during the 90-minutes affected the game in a negative way.
“What is incidental contact? I don’t know what that means mate,” said Talay when it was put to the Sky Blues boss that ‘incidental contact’ was the reason given for NOT awarding a first half penalty following a foul on Courtney-Perkins.
“He either wins the ball or he doesn’t win the ball and he pushes the player or he gets his legs tangled in the box. I don’t know, what is incidental contact? I don’t understand that.
“So if that can be explained that’d be great. I don’t know. We just go off the whim. As the game goes, we just try to play the game mate and like I said, the decisions are made where one week doesn’t match the second week so that’s the disappointing part.
“And I don’t want to sound like a sourpuss because not once have I ever spoken about any official, anything. We’ve had five plays sent off in the first half the season and haven’t spoken about anything like that.
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“So for me it’s just frustrating and disappointing to not get the outcome I think the boys deserved tonight.”
Whilst Talay avoided any direct confrontation with referee Alireza Faghani on the pitch during the 90-minutes, the same couldn’t be said for several others in Gosford.
Sydney FC midfielder Anthony Caceres was sent off after the full-time whistle for dissent while Central Coast Mariners assistant coach Danny Schofield was also given his marching orders during the game following two quick-fire yellow cards which means he will now miss next week’s Grand Final.
Defeat over the two legs brings about an end to the season for the Sky Blues who finished the regular season in fourth place, accumulating 41 points under Talay after he was appointed four games into the campaign.
As for the Mariners, Mark Jackson’s side will now host the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final against Melbourne Victory on Saturday May 25 at Industree Group Stadium, where a win would see them secure an unprecedented treble having already clinched both the Premier’s Plate and AFC Cup.
