Sydney FC have booked their spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League semi-finals with a 1-0 win over rivals Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
Sydney keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares was the star down one end, keeping his 12th clean sheet for the season, while striker Patrick Wood grabbed the deciding goal down the other.
Nishan Velupillay nearly opened the scoring inside two minutes, drawing a strong save from Devenish-Meares.
Devenish-Meares again made a fine save to get low to his right and deny Charles Nduka’s effort in the 18th minute.
Victory hearts were in their mouths when star midfielder Juan Mata looked to have collected Paul Okon-Engstler with a high boot while controlling the ball, however VAR cleared the incident.
Victory keeper Jack Warshawsky too made a pair of impressive saves in the first half, first blocking Alexandar Popović’s header from a corner, then climbing well to keep out Akol Akon’s improvised header.
Devenish-Meares’s reflexes were on point again early in the second-half, pulling of a ripping instinct save on Nduka’s flicked-on header.
It was Sydney’s turn to get away with one on the hour mark, VAR deciding not to intervene on Apostolos Stamatelopoulos grabbing Jason Davidson’s shirt inside the area.
The referee awarded Victory a penalty moments later when Okon-Engstler was judged to have impeded Santos on his bustling run into the area, however VAR overturned the decison on review.
Wood gave Sydney FC the lead just a minute after being subbed on, pouncing on a poor back pass from Franco Lino and sliding his shot past Warshawsky.
Try as they might, Victory couldn’t find their way through the resolute Sydney defence.
Sydney FC will face off against Newcastle Jets in their semi-final match up, leaving Adelaide and Auckland to play the other semi-final.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Sydney FC goal: Wood 80′
