Sydney FC secured a huge boost in the race to seal a spot in the top six after defeating Macarthur Bulls 2-0 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in the Isuzu UTE A-League on Saturday night.
The Sky Blues had the better of the chances in the first half but were consistently thwarted by an in-form Filip Kurto, who produced a handful of key saves to keep his side in the contest in Campbelltown.
The breakthrough eventually came in the in the 58th minute though as Patryk Klimala registered his eighth goal of the season, beating Kurto with a low drive after Douglas Costa had previously rattled the crossbar.
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Sydney then had their second of the night in the 72nd minute as substitute Adrian Segecic continued his fine goalscoring form with his 13th goal of the season across all competitions, closing down an attempted clearance from Bulls defender Kevin Boli which then ricocheted into the unguarded net to make it 2-0 and seal the win.
Macarthur had a flurry of late chances to pull one back but the Sky Blues held firm to make it back-to-back clean sheets and move into the top six.
As for the Bulls, Mile Sterjovski’s side now sit eighth on the ladder and four points behind the Sky Blues in sixth.
With nine red cards in the previous 11 meetings between these two sides it was little surprise to see a yellow card produced after just four minutes; Liam Rose booked following a crunching tackle on Lolley in the heart of midfield.
The Sky Blues dominated the early stages of the contest and forced Bulls keeper Kurto into an early save, denying countryman Klimala from a tight angle before the Polish duo then went head-to-head once again.
Picked out by a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot pass from Costa, Klimala peeled away from his man and volleyed the ball towards the near post only to be denied by a stunning reflex save from Kurto who, moving to his right, incredibly leapt to his left to palm the ball away.
Already regarded as one of the league’s best goalkeepers, Kurto then produced another sensational save to deny Costa.
Standing over a freekick on the edge of the box, the Brazilian’s curling left-footed effort clipped the wall before it was tipped over the bar by the flying Kurto, with the Polish shot-stopper then reacting well to clear the danger from the resulting corner.
Now beginning to run the game, Costa dribbled his way into the box before unleashing a powerful right-footed effort which crashed back off the bar, much to the relief of the Bulls keeper.
However it felt like a goal was coming and one duly arrived as Kurto was eventually beaten on the night.
Played in by Lolley, Klimala got the jump on Bulls defender Tomislav Uskok and lashed his first-time effort beyond Kurto to make it 1-0 in front of the adoring Sydney FC travelling fans.
Kurto then came to Macarthur’s rescue once again, this time denying Lolley from close range to flick the ball over the ball with another reflex save.
The Bulls then shot themselves in the foot in the 72nd though as substitute Segecic capitalised on some hesitation at the back.
Receiving a short goal kick from Kurto, central defender Boli spent too long on the ball before attempting to play the pass and when he did, his clearance was closed down by Segecic and the ball subsequently ricocheted into the empty net to make it 2-0 and register the youngster’s eighth league goal of the campaign.
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Registering their first shot on target in the 87th minute, former Sydney FC defender Kealey Adamson lashed a powerful shot towards goal which was saved by Sky Blues keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares before Uskok then headed over a glorious chance from the resulting corner.
Desperately searching for a way back into the game, the Bulls then saw another good chance go begging late on as substitute Yianni Nicolaou curled one over the bar from inside the box, much to the frustration of his teammates.
The result takes Sydney FC into the top six and ahead of rivals Western Sydney Wanderers who host Perth Glory on Sunday at CommBank Stadium.
