Clutching his heart, relieved Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka admitted his side was fortunate to hang on for a tense 2-1 win over luckless Brisbane at the SFS on Sunday night.
The Sky Blues were leading 2-0 and seemingly coasting to victory until Roar replacement Isaka Cernak scored in the 72nd minute to turn the match on its ear.
Suddenly it was Sydney under the pump as Brisbane, in coach Ange Postecoglou’s first match in charge, began asking all the questions.
The visitors came close to scoring on a number of occasion in the dying stages, a goal-line clearance in the 94th minute denying them the latest of equalisers.
“The finish of the game was pressure. We were under pressure and my heart rate was over 200,” Lavicka smiled.
“I think after the second goal we lost concentration for a few moments and our opponent scored and after that we were under pressure and lucky to win.”
“It was important – another victory brings more confidence – but today it was very hard for us.”
Despite a tumultuous fortnight in which coach Frank Farina was sacked and replaced by Postecoglou, Brisbane showed plenty of poise, class and cohesion on a greasy SFS surface.
The new Roar boss expressed delight at being back in the coaching caper and spoke of his immense pride in the performance, but lamented the loss of at least a point.
“It’s great to be back coaching – I love that side of it – but ultimately we lost the game of football which is never good,” Postecoglou said.
“That was our main task – to try and win – but in terms of the effort put in by the players, no complaints.”
“We worked hard against a good team and in the end were probably a bit unlucky not to get a point.”
“It had everything but the result and ultimately that’s what we’re in the game of.”
“So we can’t be too happy with ourselves but there were certain parts of our game that I was delighted with.”
Sydney’s goals came via Alex Brosque and Karol Kisel, the latter scoring his first game for the club.
But while happy to finally get his name on the scoresheet, the modest Slovakian international took greater pleasure seeing Sydney move to the top of the Hyundai A-League table on the strength of the hard-fought win.
“I feel better now and I hope you will see on the pitch it’s better for my confidence, but most important is that we are on top of the table,” Kisel pointed out
“That’s why I’m here, for the team. I want to win every game and I want to win a championship so that’s most important.”
