Kosta Barbarouses opened his account for the A-League Men season to help Sydney FC secure a 2-0 win over Perth Glory at HBF Park on Saturday.
Barbarouses, playing just his fifth match of an injury-interrupted campaign after fracturing his ankle, scored in the seventh minute before Patrick Yazbek sealed the win with a 70th-minute strike.
The result snapped a rare three-match losing run and five-match league drought for Sydney, while Glory are now bottom of the table after Brisbane Roar’s upset win over Wellington Phoenix earlier in the day.
Barbarouses was replaced in the 77th minute but it was unclear whether it was for an injury or merely tactical.
Glory captain Brandon O’Neill suffered what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury in the 63rd minute after being felled in a sliding tackle from former team-mate Alex Wilkinson.
Sydney entered the match on the back of a five-match winless streak and without the services of injured trio Milos Ninkovic, Elvis Kamsoba and Anthony Caceres.
There were chances galore in an entertaining first half, with the Sky Blues making the early running.
An intercept and sharp run down the left from defender Callum Talbot helped set up the opener, with Barbarouses volleying home the cross from point-blank range.
Glory goalkeeper Brad Jones did well to block starting debutant Luciano Narsingh in a one-on-one situation a short time later, and it took until the 25th minute for the hosts to start making Sydney’s defenders sweat.
Pacifique Niyongabire’s deflected shot from the tightest of angles was heading into goal before Andrew Redmayne palmed it away.
Niyongabire almost scored a header from the ensuing corner, and a powerful shot from Bruno Fornaroli was well saved a minute later.
Glory’s Spanish forward Adrian Sardinero was left red faced in the 28th minute when he didn’t even make contact with his close-range header attempt after a looping lob found him and Niyongabire unmarked next to each other.
Barbarouses came within an inch of scoring his second in the 36th minute, only for his strike to roll just wide of the target.
Redmayne spilled a low cross in the 56th minute but he made up for it by getting a glove on Sardinero’s follow-up shot in a move that slowed the ball down enough for it to be eventually cleared off the line.
The woodwork saved Sydney in the 59th minute when Fornaroli unleashed a curling strike from outside the box.
Yazbek’s goal 11 minutes later was somewhat controversial given a Glory player was taken out in the lead-up.
The goal stood, however, and the Glory couldn’t get on the scoresheet themselves despite setting up several more good chances.
