Sydney FC have breathed new life into their Hyundai A-League season, scoring twice inside the last 15 minutes to defeat Perth Glory 2-0 at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday.
A lacklustre contest appeared headed towards a scoreless draw until goals to Shannon Cole (75th minute) and Alex Brosque (80m) turned the game on its ear.
It was probably more than the Sky Blues deserved after dishing up ordinary fare for the first 75 minutes of a match played in very warm conditions before a club-record low crowd of 6654.
But Sydney will happily embrace a victory which takes them off the A-League basement and past North Queensland.
Cole lit up a drab affair with a well-taken goal 15 minutes from the end.
Brosque, in his 100th A-League match, created the chance by switching play to his right with a clever pass to free Cole, who kept his cool to fire past Glory keeper Tando Velaphi.
He celebrated with a double backflip as the small but vocal crowd was finally brought to its feet.
Five minutes later Brosque went from provider to scorer.
Hirofumi Moriyasu’s inch-perfect pass set the striker free and he easily rounded Velaphi before depositing the ball into the back of an empty net.
Glory’s late fade-out was exacerbated by the late sending off of Brent Griffiths, who was the last man in the line went he brought down a goal-bound Brosque.
The match had begun at a surprisingly brisk pace given the mid-afternoon heat in Sydney’s west.
Both sides had chances inside the first five minutes in what was a promising start between two clubs at the wrong end of the table.
Perth’s opportunity came after just one minute following an awful piece of Sydney defending.
Jacob Burns, Perth’s best by far, lobbed a cross into the Sydney penalty area where an unmarked Michael Baird had the goal at his mercy from around the six-yard box.
His header was on target but just lacked the power to cross the line, Sky Blues captain Terry McFlynn arriving just in time to hook the ball out from under his crossbar.
A few minutes later McFlynn found himself at the other end of the park and let fly with a thunderous drive that Velaphi did well to punch away.
This end-to-end, foot down football was never going to last in the energy-sapping conditions.
The game degenerated into a long ball contest with quality going out the window.
As the crowd began to voice its disapproval, Sydney’s Swiss defender Stephan Kellar also decided he’d seen enough.
He clocked off after 34 minutes complaining of dizziness and double vision from an earlier head knock.
Blurred vision would have had greater appeal, saving him from having to watch the dross dished up for most of the second half.
Passes were either over hit or under hit as creativity took a back seat.
But the home side showed great resolve – and superior condition – to hang in and come away with an invaluable victory following a late rally.
Sydney FC 2
(Cole 75m, Brosque 81m)
Perth Glory 0
Crowd: 6654
