Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets drew 1-1 in a friendly at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon.
Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets drew 1-1 in a friendly at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday afternoon.
The match was a free-flowing affair with both sides taking advantage of the long Leichhardt Oval pitch. Mallia and Ali Abbas in particular looked dangerous going forward while it took some great defence from Sky Blues defender Fabio to snuff out several early Newcastle chances.
The deadlock was broken in the 30th minute when Ruben Zadkovich curled a free kick over the wall from the edge of the penalty area, giving Ivan Necevski no chance between the sticks.
Sydney were lacking most of their major names and were reliant on young striker Mitch Mallia to level the scores, heading home a fine Dimi Petratos corner in the second half.
The equaliser also saw the introduction of Emerton, who made a welcome return to the pitch after undergoing off season ankle surgery, slotting into a central midfield role during an impressive 30 minute display.
Both sides made several changes in the final 20 minutes and it was Sydney FC who finished the strongest. The best chance fell to another Sydney FC youngster but Nick Taneski headed the ball over the crossbar from an Ali Abbas cross in the 86th minute.
