Bobô strikes early to hand Sydney FC slender win over Victory in Big Blue

Melbourne Victory put up a valiant fight, but ultimately fell short in a 1-0 Big Blue loss to Sydney FC at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Tuesday night.

An early Bobô headed goal was all the Sky Blues needed to earn bragging rights against a weakened Victory line-up, moving into second on the A-League table with a result which snapped a three-game drawing streak built up by Steve Corica’s side.

Without the suspended Callum McManaman, Robbie Kruse, Jake Brimmer and Adama Traore, Victory gave a solid account of themselves throughout the contest. But a slow start cost the travelling side, as Sydney applied the clamps early to take the lead through Bobô on six minutes.

Former Victory man Kosta Barbarouses received multiple chances to double Sydney’s lead, but Victory goalkeeper Matt Acton proved his nemesis on multiple occasions, as he did to a number of Sky Blues opponents who failed to pierce his guard.

20-year-old Victory forward Lleyton Brooks came into Steve Kean’s starting lineup to mitigate the loss of his side’s absent stars, and the youngster was a bright spark going forward, hitting the post with a second-half header and combining well with the dangerous Ben Folami as the away side threatened in wide areas.

Corica brought Miloš Ninković off the bench in the second half as Sydney chased a second goal to seal the game, but no such luxury was awarded to the hosts as Victory dug deep to make their opponents work for all three points, which were eventually earned by the Sky Blues at the end of a tightly-contested game at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.

Key Moments

Sydney FC stormed out of the blocks, as Luke Brattan pulled the strings in an early Sky Blue onslaught which led to the opening goal of the game.

A pair of early corners heaped pressure on Victory’s defensive line, and that line failed to deal with the threat of a Brattan cross whipped off the right wing to the back post after Rhyan Grant and Alex Baumjohann combined to win the ball back inside Sydney’s attacking box.

Brattan’s delivery found the head of Bobô, who towered above the Victory defenders to convert the opening goal of the game.

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Bobô almost turned provider minutes later by collecting a ball to feet on the turn and feeding Barbarouses in on goal.

The New Zealand international took the ball in his stride and sized up Victory defender Dylan Ryan, turning him inside then out before shooting on goal, only for Ryan to get a vital leg on the ball and send it out for a corner.

The Sky Blues were dominant, but unable to find a second goal to reward their effort throughout the opening half-hour of play. Barbarouses received his second chance off a Joel King cross which split two Victory defenders to find the head of his attacking teammate, but the header from a promising position flew well wide of the mark.

Folami scored a brace for Victory last time out, and should have grabbed his third goal in two games when Brooks put a cross on a plate for Folami to finish in the 36th minute of play.

Brooks combines with Elvis Kamsoba on the right wing and the cross found Folami all alone in the box, but his resulting header went straight into Andrew Redmayne’s path.

Victory ended the first half with momentum, but failed to equalise before heading into the break. The lively Brooks dispatched a shot on target which Redmayne did well to save as the visiting side mounted a valiant charge which carried into the early stages of the second half.

Kamsoba earned his side a corner in the 52nd minute of play after Ryan McGowan blocked his shot from a narrow angle. Moments later Brooks rattled the post with a thunderous header, latching onto Butterfield’s cross and troubling Redmayne with the attempt which only marginally missed the target.

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Victory ‘keeper Acton made four key blocks in the second half to ensure the deficit remained at just one goal as the contest ticked towards the 70th minute of play.

Acton denied Barbarouses twice from shots taken from the right-hand side of Sydney’s 18-yard box, before tipping a diving McGowan header over his crossbar.

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Ninković entered the fray off the bench and quickly got to work, lashing a volley toward the bottom-left corner which Acton got down low to divert around his near post.

It seemed evident at that point that Acton was unwilling to be beaten for a second time on the night, and he ensured Bobô’s opening goal was the only shot to find the back of his net by full-time. But down the other end, Victory were unable to get the goal to steal a share of the points as the contest ended 1-0 in Sydney’s favour.

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