Sydney FC coach Vitezslav Lavicka believes his side were due the lucky break they got when a blatant refereeing blunder handed them victory over the Newcastle Jets on Sunday.
The Sky Blues claimed just their second win of the season when their Brazilian striker Bruno Cazarine scored the only goal of the game with just 14 minutes.
But the goal should never have been allowed with replays showing the ball had already crossed the by-line before midfielder Hiro Moriyasu cut it back for Cazarine to tap into an open net.
The Jets were left frustrated as assistant referee Ben Wilson failed to spot the ball had gone out of play, with referee Chris Beath allowing the goal despite the furious protests.
The Sydney boss admitted there was plenty of controversy over the goal but was just glad his side was finally the beneficiary of a slice of luck after a tumultuous start to the campaign.
“We had bad luck this season several times so tonight we had a bit of luck for us,” Lavicka said.
“We are doing small steps forward now but everyone knows we have plenty of room to improve our style this season.”
“I agree it was a controversial goal…but everyone makes mistakes.”
Jets coach Branko Culina was bitterly disappointed with what transpired but held his emotions in check post-match, despite seeing his side now move to the bottom of the A-League ladder.
Asked if he felt the manner of the goal was another case for video technology to be introduced to the game, Culina said: “I don’t know. I don’t want to go into that so soon after the game.”
“We have seen that too often these kinds of decisions can ruin and determine the outcome of the game.”
“I think it should be football rather than those kind of decisions.”
“But having said that, if that’s what we’ve got in place then we’ve just got to accept it.”
Sydney have now moved up to ninth place on the back of their second win in the last three games and are just six points behind sixth place Melbourne Heart, ahead of their trip to the Gold Coast next weekend.
“We are building small steps forward now,” Lavicka said.
“But everyone knows that we have plenty of room to improve our style this season.”
“We got a clean sheet in defence and that’s a very important step forward for us this season.”
Sydney lost Mark Bridge (groin) and defender Sung-Hwan Byun (hamstring) to injury before the match but both are expected to be right for the trip north on Friday night.
Culina opted to drop experienced pair Ljubo Milicevic and Kasey Wehrman to the bench after they were involved in a training ground bust-up during the week.
“We wanted to send a strong message to the players … and our supporters as well, what we’re about and what we want to achieve,” Culina said.
The Jets return to EnergyAustralia Stadium next Saturday night to face Adelaide United.
