Sydney FC have knocked Macarthur FC out of the Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series with a comfortable 4-0 Elimination Final win at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
The victory was not without its controversy after a first-half red card to Macarthur full-back Kealey Adamson; the Sky Blues cruised to the Semi-Finals after Adamson’s send-off, with Robert Mak’s two goals bookending a Joe Lolley wonder strike and Jaiden Kucharski’s classy finish in a game that left the Sky Blues with injury concerns for two key players.
Lolley, after finding the top-left corner from range with a classic Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series goal, trudged off the field with an apparent right leg injury before Luke Brattan was helped from the field late in the contest after a heavy tackle from Bulls midfielder Jake Hollman.
The 4-0 win over Macarthur knocked the Bulls out of the post-season and sent Ufuk Talay’s Sky Blues to the Semi-Finals. Should Melbourne Victory beat Melbourne City in Sunday’s Melbourne Derby Final, Sydney would take on Central Coast Mariners in the final four. But if City cause an upset over Victory, Sydney would face Wellington Phoenix in the two-leg Semis.
On the Paramount+ post-game show, Mak was asked whether he had a preference between either Wellington and the Mariners in terms of Semi-Final opponents.
“I think this year we (have) very good results against Mariners,” Mak said with a smile. “But it doesn’t matter, you need to perform against every team well.”
Sydney coach Ufuk Talay was the next guest on the Paramount+ panel; host Scott Mackinnon posed the same question to Talay, who gave a far more diplomatic response.
“You’re asking me a question that I can’t control, unfortunately,” Talay said. “It is what it is, whoever we get is what we get. Whether it’s Central Coast or Wellington, we have to go off the result of tomorrow’s game.”
Mackinnon then referred to Mak’s revelation of his hopes for a Mariners match-up rather than a two-legged bout with Wellington, to which Talay replied: “He doesn’t want to travel!”
Sydney have faced Central Coast twice this season, winning both games.
Mak opened the scoring inside eight minutes and the Slovakian was given far too much time and space by Macarthur centre-back Tommy Smith as he drove with possession into the box and onto his left to finish calmly into the bottom-left corner.
Macarthur were reeling when Sydney midfielder Corey Hollman thought he’d doubled the home side’s lead soon after but his goal from just outside the box was ruled out by an offside call on Anthony Caceres, who was well beyond the Bulls’ defensive line when Joe Lolley caused the intercept high up the pitch that led to Hollman’s shot on goal.
Mak kept the Sky Blues on top as he sought a second first-half goal, and if not for the superb glovework of Filip Kurto, Sydney would have pulled clear by the quarter-hour mark.
Then came a moment of controversy at Allianz Stadium as the Isuzu UTE A-League’s first instance of live VAR made history.
Prior to the start of the Final Series, Australian Professional Leagues (APL) announced that, for the first time in Australian football history, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviews will be broadcast live during the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series, giving fans a detailed look at the decision-making processes that occur during such reviews.
READ MORE: Live VAR to debut during Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series as Australia leads the way in Asia
Such an intervention was required just 25 minutes into Saturday night’s Elimination Final, as Adamson bundled Jordan Courtney-Perkins to ground when contesting for an aerial ball on the edge of the box.
Referee Alireza Faghani pointed for a penalty but was advised by VAR to reconsider where the contact was made; Faghani initially gave a yellow card but after reviewing the offence, concluded it took place outside the penalty area.
Sydney were denied a penalty but due Faghani upgraded his sanction from yellow to red and the Bulls were reduced to 10 men.
After reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, Faghani blew his whistle and said: “The decision is red card for number 20 of Macarthur for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity” over the stadium sound system and the Paramount+ broadcast.
The Bulls had positive memories from recent history to lean on after going down to 10 men against the Sky Blues; two weeks prior to Saturday’s final Mile Sterjovski’s side received two red cards against Sydney FC, but beat their local rivals 1-0.
Just before half-time, Macarthur forward Valère Germain wasted a golden opportunity to get the 10-man Bulls back on level terms, ballooning his close-range shot over the bar after Clayton Taylor’s exquisite cross toward the six-yard box.
Macarthur were made to pay for the late miss in the first half when Lolley lashed one of the strikes of the season into the top-left corner just five minutes after the restart.
Lolley struck with power and precision, leaving Kurto no chance of making a save – but joy quickly turned to frustration for Sydney as their star winger limped gingerly from the ground holding his right leg, before being removed prematurely from the action at Allianz Stadium.
Kucharski came off the bench to replace Lolley, who cut a frustrated figure as he trudged off the pitch. But his 21-year-old replacement provided a spark as a substitute and in the 67th-minute, Kucharski put Sydney out of sight.
The youngster’s finish was cleanly-struck off his left foot, buried into the bottom-left corner.
With their hopes of progression to the Semi-Finals all but vanquished, 10-man Macarthur failed to stem the bleeding as Sydney cruised to a four-goal lead.
Sydney’s fourth was a slick team move that began in defence and transitioned from left-back, through midfield and out to the right wing where Max Burgess collected possession and picked out Mak with a pinpoint ball to the back post for the simplest of tap-ins.
