Joe Lolley scored twice as Sydney FC ended their three-game winless run with a 3-0 win against 10-man Melbourne Victory in the first Big Blue of 2024-25 at Allianz Stadium.
The resolute defensive display marked the Sky Blues’ first A-League clean sheet since last season’s finals win over Macarthur.
Victory have failed to win since Patrick Kisnorbo’s sudden departure prior to last week’s Melbourne Derby to take up an assistant coach role at City Football Group-owned Yokohama F. Marinos.
Lolley opened the scoring in the second minute, capitalising on a helpful bounce after Jordan Courtney-Perkins’ excellent first-time cross.
Victory suffered another big blow when a VAR check saw Zinedine Machach’s yellow card for stamping on Courtney-Perkins upgraded to red. The Frenchman was ostensibly fairly challenging for the ball but referee Adam Kersey nevertheless ruled the tackle as serious foul play.
Lolley doubled his tally after 26 minutes with a clinical header from Douglas Costa’s pinpoint delivery, the two marquees combining with the 10-man visitors shellshocked.
The Englishman had the ball in the net for a third time but VAR intervened with Rhyan Grant called offside in the build-up.
Tensions threatened to boil over between the old rivals in the second half with Kersey handing out multiple yellow cards.
Refusing to lie down, Victory inevitably left plenty of space for the Sky Blues to attack and substitute Jaiden Kucharski finished off a counter-attack to seal the three points.
Victory can’t recover from send-off
Machach’s red card was a big moment, forcing interim manager Arthur Diles’ side to play with ten men for 74 minutes. When Lolley provided his second goal of the evening ten minutes later, it proved to be too big an obstacle for Victory to overcome.
Paramount commentators Simon Hill and Daniel McBreen were not exactly in full agreement with the decision.
“He’s very unlucky here, if he was to get a red,” McBreen said.
“I’m not sure about that,” Hill added.
“The tackle is with the studs to the shin with excessive force,” Kersey said in a live explanation broadcast on Paramount.
“Decision is a red card.”
Unsurprisingly there was no big tick of approval from Diles, either.
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“It happens quick, you just see what you see on the big screen,” Diles told reporters post-game.
“I thought he got to the ball first. I think the most disappointing part about all this is a statement already comes out from (Football Australia head of referees Jon Moss) during the match. I think that can wait until the end (of the match) and review, and give us an opportunity to look at the situation as well.
“It happens, it’s football. They make a call, we live with it, we move on with it. We don’t have to like it but we’ve got to deal with it.”
Lolley excels up top
Much of the off-season attention was on new Sydney recruits Douglas Costa, Anas Ouahim, Patryk Klimala and Leo Sena but Lolley is still one of the most potent forwards in the A-League. Coming from an an unnatural position leading the line, his clinical double was crucial in wresting control of the Big Blue.
Polish striker Klimala is a chance of returning to the match day squad when Sydney travel up the M1 for a clash with Newcastle Jets next Saturday, potentially causing a headache for coach Ufuk Talay.
“Joe did a great job playing as a No.9 in Patryk’s absence,” Talay said.
“Could’ve had three (goals) if that wasn’t offside, the third one.”
Nix bounce back, Mariners’ title defence in trouble
Earlier on Saturday, Wellington Phoenix got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Newcastle Jets at Sky Stadium. Ryan Scott had a moment to forget as Nix veteran Kosta Barbarouses chipped the Jets goalkeeper from inside the centre circle.
In Saturday’s middle game, the Mariners’ title defence took another hit after a demoralising 4-1 defeat at home to league leaders Auckland. In coach Mark Jackson’s first campaign, the club also started the season terribly but once they flipped the switch, it was a remarkable run to the domestic double. That point ostensibly arrived in 2024-25 after the hard-fought 2-1 victory against Sydney, but since then they have only attained one point from three games.
The logjam in the middle of the ladder means Central Coast are only a short run of wins from a top-six position, as long as they can kickstart their campaign in the next few matches.