Sydney FC boss Graham Arnold has praised his side’s resilience in overcoming twin setbacks to salvage a 1-1 draw against rivals Melbourne Victory.
Sydney’s chances of taking anything from Saturday night’s Big Blue appeared slim when veteran defender Jacques Faty received a straight red card fewer than 20 minutes after falling a goal behind.
However, the Sky Blues battled back to snatch a point through David Carney’s expertly-taken finish 15 minutes from full-time.
“When you play Melbourne Victory the first thing you have to do is match the fight,” Arnold said after the match on Fox Sports.
“I thought we did that exceptionally well tonight. At times we can do better but after the trip away to Tokyo … to back up the way we did was very good.”
10-man Sky Blues hold Victory in tense Big Blue
Arnold made seven changes to the team which lost 2-0 away to Urawa Reds in midweek as Sydney attempted to end a six-match winless run across all competitions.
One of those moves was to include Carney, prompting Arnold to claim fresh legs as key to his side remaining in the contest.
“I think if we went down to 10 men and had players on the field that were fatigued we would have struggled to come back,” he said.
“That’s the great thing about David Carney, with what he can do. He’s excellent at one-v-one situations.
“We try to put him in that situation as much as we can and thankfully he came through tonight.”
