A controversial goal to Sydney FC striker Bruno Cazarine has helped the Sky Blues off the bottom of the Hyundai A-League ladder courtesy of a vital 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A controversial goal to Sydney FC striker Bruno Cazarine has helped the Sky Blues off the bottom of the Hyundai A-League ladder courtesy of a vital 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
In what was an otherwise dour clash between the competition’s bottom two clubs, Cazarine got the decisive breakthrough 14 minutes from the end to hand Sydney their second win in three games and keep their finals hopes alive.
But there was plenty of doubt over whether the winning goal should have been allowed to stand.
The controversy came in the lead up to the goal when Sydney midfielder Hiro Moriyasu made a break down the right before getting to the by-line and cutting the ball back for the Brazilian striker to tap into an empty net for his fifth goal of the season.
But replays showed the ball had just crossed the line before Moriyasu’s cross but it missed by assistant referee Ben Wilson and the goal was allowed to stand despite the protest of the Newcastle players.
Wilson had raised his flag but not for the ball being out but for a foul as Moriyasu tussled with Jets defender Nikolai-Topor Stanley just outside the box.
Jets coach Branko Culina was bitterly disappointed with the manner of the goal but resisted the temptation to criticise the referee and his assistant.
“It’s part of the game….hopefully one day well get a decision go our way like that as well,” he said.
“We’ve seen that too often those kind of decisions can ruin and determine the outcome of the game.”
“It’s unfortunate…I think it should be football rather than those kind of decisions.”
Aside from the one contentious moment it was a match that will give neither side any real confidence that they can turn their season around and make a genuine play for the finals, with both teams devoid of any real quality, inspiration or desperation.
Despite his side being desperate for a win, Newcastle coach Branko Culina made the tough choice to leave experienced stars Kasey Wehrman and Ljubo Milicevic on the bench after they were involved in a training ground bust-up during the week.
The Sky Blues were dealt a blow before the match with Sung-Hwan Byun (hamstring) and Mark Bridge (groin) joining marquee man Nicky Carle (Foot) on the sidelines.
And they certainly missed the creative spark of the latter two, struggling to create any real meaningful attempts on Ben Kennedy’s goal throughout the 90 minutes.
But after securing just their second win of the season – and their first at home in 2010/11 – Sydney coach Vitezslav Lavicka hopes with his side’s fortunate winner their luck has finally changed for the better.
“We had bad luck this season several times so tonight we had a bit of luck for us,” he said.
“We are doing small steps forward now but everyone knows we have plenty of room to improve our style this season.”
The victory has enabled Sydney to move off the bottom of the ladder for the first time in two months.
Vitezslav Lavicka’s side are astonishingly just six points away from the finals spots despite going the first 10 games of the season without a win.
Sydney will make the trip north to take on Gold Coast next Friday while the Jets host Adelaide United on Saturday night.
Sydney FC 1 (Cazarine 76)
Newcastle Jets
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