KEEPUP previews Week Two of the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series, with thanks to Neds.
Semi Final weekend kicks off in the Harbour City as two of the league’s hottest teams – Sydney FC and Melbourne City – go head-to-head at Allianz Stadium.
The Sky Blues come into Friday night’s contest with the wind in their sails, having knocked off arch-rivals Western Sydney Wanderers in an enthralling come-from-behind victory at CommBank Stadium to book their place in the Semi Finals.
Sydney’s latest win extended their unbeaten run to six straight games, with their last loss coming all the way back on March 18 against the Wanderers.
Star forward Joe Lolley didn’t start against the Wanderers and only played just over ten minutes as he continues to fight through injury, but has been named by coach Steve Corica for the clash with City.
However, one of the keys for the Sky Blues has been the impact of Lolley’s fellow countryman, Jack Rodwell – who helped stabilise Sydney’s defence against the Wanderers’ high-powered front-line and he looks set to play yet another major role in their clash with the premiers.
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“Massive impact… I thought he was absolutely fantastic on the weekend and winning a lot of tackles keeping Brandon Borrello relatively quiet; (he) almost went missing in the second half, Borrello,” Robbie Cornthwaite said on A-League Agenda.
“I don’t think that was through any fault of his own. You see his distribution was really good and what I liked, particularly in the second half, was he stepped into midfield and quite a lot, Luke Brattan dropped in and covered for him and he started the play, he pushed up a little bit higher on that right hand side.
He’s such a presence, so much experience and if they can keep him fit, they’ve got every chance against Melbourne City.
Rodwell’s task doesn’t get much more harder than this as he goes head-to-head with the league’s most potent attack, headlined by Golden Boot winner and all-time A-Leagues leading goalscorer Jamie Maclaren.
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Maclaren comes into finals in scintillating form, scoring six goals in his last four games which took his tally to 24 for the entire regular season – his second highest tally in a single A-Leagues season.
“How do you stop him (Maclaren)? Well, no one really has been able to,” Cornthwaite said.
“I played against him a couple of times. He was just that one guy that for some reason he always managed to get in the blind spot. You couldn’t quite see where he was and you were constantly wondering and worrying where he was.
“I think an underrated part of his game is actually how quickly he reacts to situations, a shot on goal, the keeper might make a save and it parries down and he’s the first to react.
“He loves to score goals, he just wants to score goals and he’s very, very good at doing it.”
Cornthwaite also threw up the suggestion that City could look to shuffle the deck up front in both the first and second leg.
“It’s interesting to see how they line up and what they go with over two legs,” Cornthwaite said.
“Obviously, (Andrew) Nabbout. They’ve got Matthew Leckie who has had a tremendous season, obviously missed some games through injury, (Marco) Tilio as well.
“Maybe away from home, they go with someone a little bit more robust like an Andrew Nabbout and Leckie and then maybe at home they go for Tilio, to bring that flare and firepower.
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“He scored one very good goal against Sydney FC this season at home, almost goal of the year. So against his old side, another former Sydney FC player, one they’ve let go could come back to bite them.”
City’s form has flowed off their star attackers over the last couple months, having gone eight games unbeaten, with their last loss coming all the way back on March 3 on the road to Adelaide United.
Rado Vidosic’s side would feel confident going into this contest as they have only lost one of their last five against the Sky Blues and are set to welcome back gun midfielder Valon Berisha.
However, defensively they have been suspect, not keeping a clean sheet in their last 14 league games. In fact, this stretch is their equal longest in the competition (14 games from March to November 2014).
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Tom Glover will also play his 100th Isuzu UTE A-League match and despite their defensive struggles as of late, the City keeper has prevented 4.5 goals this season (32 conceded, 36.5 xG on target conceded) which is his best return in any of his five campaigns in the A-League Men’s.
Opta stat: Sydney FC have won their last four games on the bounce in the A-League Men; the last time they won more in succession was a six-game streak from May to June in 2021 which was ended by a 3-1 Grand Final loss to Melbourne City.
Semi Final One: Sydney FC v Melbourne City
Friday, May 12 2023
Allianz Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45pm AEST
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play & Paramount+
Odds: Sydney $2.60, Draw $3.40, City $2.40
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Semi Final action continues in the City of Churches as Adelaide United welcome Central Coast Mariners to town for the first leg on Saturday night.
The Reds booked their place in the final four with a 2-0 win at home over Wellington Phoenix, snapping a four-game winless run and setting up a clash against the same side who knocked them out of the top two in the final round of the season.
In both contests against the Mariners, Adelaide have been battered by Nick Montgomery’s side losing 8-1 on aggregate over the two games – with the most recent of those being the aforementioned 4-1 loss at Coopers Stadium.
“In the two games this season, let’s be honest, Central Coast Mariners absolutely destroyed Adelaide United. It was four-nil for the Mariners in Gosford.
“Obviously, Isaias when he was having his troubles with red cards was set off in that game and the Mariners ran away with it and then, and in Round 26 when it was all still to play for, the Mariners came to Hindmarsh and put four past Adelaide yet again.
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“So be warned Adelaide, they know what they’re capable of.”
One of the key players for the Reds against Wellington was Craig Goodwin, who scored both goals last Friday night and again, looms as the x-factor when the two teams lock horns at Hindmarsh.
The Mariners have been able to limit his influence in both games thus far, but will have their hands full again when the Socceroo takes centre stage.
“I think the key has got to be keeping the ball. Obviously, Craig Goodwin can’t create, can’t cause all these problems if Adelaide United don’t have the ball and they don’t have those opportunities to counterattack,” Cornthwaite said.
“We know down the left hand side with Ryan Kitto and Craig Goodwin, that’s their danger side. Kitto’s probably got six or seven goals himself. (They’re) not so dangerous down the right so if they can maybe set up their team in a way to force the ball down the right hand side as much as possible.
“I’m not saying they need to go and overload Adelaide United’s left hand side or anything like that, but let’s set up and, and let Adelaide play it to the right.
“Maybe Jason Cummings starts on the left side at centre-half and make sure they’re playing the ball out through the back, onto that right side and keep it away from Craig Goodwin.”
Back the other way, Adelaide’s defence face an enormous task trying to stop the Mariners’ high-powered attack, with the likes of Jason Cummings, Marco Tulio, Sammy Silvera and Beni Nkololo set to play a major role in how things shape up.
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The Reds kept their first clean sheet in 12 last weekend, shutting out ‘Nix marksman Oskar Zawada, but as shown throughout the campaign – Nick Montgomery’s side can hurt a team in many different ways – even if top scorer Cummings isn’t the one causing the damage on the scoreboard.
“Obviously, he’s (Cummings) the main marksman, but you really can’t focus on one player too much,” Cornthwaite said.
“You mentioned the others are a bit of a support act. They’ve got probably close to 30 or 40 goals between them as a group, so I mean, that’s a great weapon for Central Coast.
“Cummings (has) just two goals in the last six games of the season. They scored eight in their last three so that just shows to me other players are stepping up (Sammy) Silvera scored two in the F3 Derby, so they’re all full of confidence.
“Adelaide needs to be really careful in that game at Coopers. (Marco) Tulio when he was running at Adelaide’s back four, (Beni) Nkololo as well. They looked like they could score at will.”
Despite recent history, the two teams have contrasting finals form heading into the contest, with Adelaide undefeated in five post-season clashes at home (last defeat in 2013 to Brisbane Roar) while the Mariners have lost three in a row – including a 3-1 defeat at Coopers to the Reds in 2022.
In fact, Central Coast’s last finals win came when Montgomery was still playing for the Mariners in the 2013/14 season; a 1-0 victory over Adelaide in Gosford thanks to a late Bernie Ibini winner.
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Opta stat: Wellington Phoenix (27%, 3/11) are the only team with a lower win rate in the A-League Men finals than Central Coast Mariners (32%, 7/22) and Adelaide United (36%, 10/28).
Semi Final Two: Adelaide United v Central Coast Mariners
Saturday, May 13 2023
Coopers Stadium
Kick-off: 7:45pm AEST (7:15 PM ACST)
Broadcast: 10 Bold, 10 Play & Paramount+
Odds: Adelaide $2.45, Draw $3.60, City $2.45
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