Sydney FC have climbed above cross-city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers after a 4-1 victory.
Sydney FC have climbed above cross-city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers on the National Youth League table after claiming a comfortable 4-1 derby victory.
In steamy conditions on Cromer Park’s artificial turf pitch, two goals from Sydney’s Mitch Mallia helped seal Wanderers’ fate after a brief second-half comeback.
The win – Sydney’s fourth of the campaign – lifts the Sky Blues three points clear of the Wanderers and into eighth spot on the table.
Mallia, who has made several A-League appearances for the senior Sydney team, gave his side the perfect start on 10 minutes.
He accepted a lovely pass from Tom Slater to tuck home the ball on the second attempt after his first effort was partially saved by goalkeeper Aaron Liddell.
The Wanderers should have drawn level in the 26th minute when Jaushua Sotirio teed up striker Mark Cindric with a layoff from the by-line.
But Cindric was not quick enough on the trigger and his meekly struck shot was deflected for a corner.
Sydney responded to that scare with their second goal, via the penalty spot, minutes later.
And again Mallia was in the thick of it.
He pursued a long through-ball to go one-on-one with Liddell inside the box.
The two arrived simultaneously and Mallia was quickest to react with a header after the ball spewed in the air.
The referee ruled Liddell fouled the striker as he attempted to nod the ball into an empty net, leaving Jared Lum to fire home the penalty for a 2-0 advantage.
The visitors almost pinched a goal back right on the stroke of half-time only for Sydney keeper Anthony Bouzanis to deny Jake McGing from close range.
But the Wanderers didn’t have to wait long for a reward.
Three minutes after the resumption Zac Elrich displayed tremendous speed and determination to outstrip the Sydney defence and find the back of the net with a firmly hit shot into the bottom right corner.
The Wanderers pushed forward in search of an equaliser but were undone by a defensive blunder 10 minutes from time.
Mallia seized on a poor back pass, winning the initial challenge with the keeper before sweeping the ball into a vacant net.
Terry Antonis completed the scoring, finishing off some terrific work from Alex Urosevski to bury Sydney’s fourth at the death.
Sydney FC 4
(Mallia 8m, 80m, Lum 24m, Antonis 87m)
Western Sydney Wanderers 1
(Elrich 48m)
Sydney FC: Terry Antonis, Anthony Bouzanis, Hagi Gligor, Jared Lum, Joshua MacDonald (Stergiou 63), Mitch Mallia, Chris Naumoff, Daniel Petkovski, Tom Slater (Taneski 45), Roberto Speranza (Kofinas 45).
Res: Marko Bozic, Theo Kofinas, Lukas Stergiou, Nikola Taneski
Wanderers: James Baldacchino, Mark Cindric (Demetriou 63), Brian Jamba (Quinn 45), Jayden Koulizakis, Aaron Liddell (Tuxford 77), Jake McGing, Stepjan Paric, Yianni Perkatis, Jaushua Sotirio (MacKenzie 63), Jacob Williams, Zac Elrich
Res: James Demetriou, Zac MacKenzie, Blake Tuxford, Alastair Quinn