Sydney FC veteran Alex Wilkinson has described Friday night’s hard-earned draw with Melbourne City as a vital point in the context of the Sky Blues’ title bid.
The hosts looked set to suffer their first defeat of the Hyundai A-League season when Josh Brillante’s second yellow compounded a first-half deficit, but Bobo’s 81st minute penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw at ANZ Stadium.
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“I thought to be fair we were pretty unlucky to go in 1-0 down at half-time,” Wilkson told Fox Sports.
“Great character from the boys to keep going after going down to 10 men and I thought we definitely deserved something out of the game for sure.
“In the end it’s a great point for us because it keeps us at arm’s length from them and keeps us away from the chasing pack.”
While Sydney succeeded in getting on the front foot after Brillante’s dismissal, Wilkinson revealed it was a conservative tactical tweak which enabled the comeback.
“Before the send off we were really pushing high,” the defender said.
“(Michael) Zullo and Rhyan Grant were pushing on to their wide fullbacks and myself and Seb (Ryall) were getting dragged a bit.
“Once we scored that goal and we went down to 10 men we changed it a bit and sat into a 4-4-1.
“That prevented us from getting as stretched as we were before and prevented them from getting in behind. I thought it worked pretty well.”
