Summary
Things are starting to wind down at Allianz Stadium. The trophy is on a lap of honour, Graham Arnold is telling reporters the focus is already on the weekend’s game, so it’s probably time for me to sign off.
We’ll be back here tomorrow night for the Matildas’ friendly with China.
Arnold: "I thought it was a fantastic game of football. Adelaide played well but overall it was an outstanding effort by us with only a 3 day turnaround from the last game." #FFACupFinal #MagicOfTheCup
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 21, 2017
Michael Zullo just took the ball boy who was involved in the sideline wrestle up on stage with him & gave him his winners medal 🥇 Nice touch #FFACupFinal #SydneyFC
— Paul Cochrane (@paulcochrane) November 21, 2017
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Brosque: "To Adelaide - 120 minutes and a very tough game. You pushed us very hard. Commiserations because it is tough. We lost it last year so know what it feels like. All the best for the rest of the season." #FFACupFinal #MagicOfTheCup
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 21, 2017
Alex Brosque lifts the FFA Cup for Sydney FC!
All of Sydney’s players and coaching staff have made their way onto the stage in preparation for the trophy handover.
David Cervinski presents the Mark Viduka Medal for the player of the match to Adrian Mierzejewski.
Presentations are underway in the Allianz Stadium stands. Steven Lowy and David Gallop are on the dais; penny for their thoughts ahead of next week’s FFA AGM.
⚽️ THE WINNING GOAL! ⚽️
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 21, 2017
Here's the moment @OFICIALBob13 won the Westfield #FFACupFinal 2017 for @SydneyFC.
🎥: @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/bEWYI6ADVt
Despite all of that, Michael Marrone’s red card for manhandling a ballboy is likely to be the major talking point over the coming days. Crazy scenes.
Even the ballkids at Sydney FC cheat. #FFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/bSemHNfDa2
— West Sydney Football (@WestSydney) November 21, 2017
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What an exhausting night that turned into.
Sydney should have been out of sight by half-time. Adelaide fought their way back into the contest after the break and then held on despite a late Sydney onslaught. Extra time was end to end with Ochieng central to a series of Adelaide opportunities before Bobo nodded in the winner.
120 minutes of committed engrossing football.
Full Time (AET) - Sydney FC 2-1 Adelaide United
Clean sweep for Sydney FC who add the FFA Cup to the premiers plate and championship trophy.
124 min: Last chance saloon now for Adelaide, who are just lumping balls forward. Sydney hold their ground, Redmayne collects, and boots the ball clear.
122 min: ... but the corner skims off an Adelaide head and behind for a goal kick.
121 min: Three minutes of added time at the end of extra time. Bodies are dropping to the turf all over the place. Cramp, exhaustion, injuries, who knows what!? Corner to ten-man Adelaide and Izzo’s up from the back!
120 min: This has been a terrific game, full of incident, but it’s ending in acrimony.
119 min: Ooof! Elsey has smashed Simon with a horror challenge. That should be red. Frustration has got the better of the defender there and he’s lucky to see out the game.
119' Yellow to Elsey for a disgusting challenge on Simon. That should be a red. 2-1 #SydneyIsSkyBlue #FFACupFinal
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) November 21, 2017
114' WOW. Marrone just pushed over a ball boy. That's rubbish. #SydneyIsSkyBlue #FFACupFinal
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) November 21, 2017
114 min: Melee! No idea why, but Matt Simon’s in the middle of it. David Squires’ cartoon has a guaranteed panel
Madness! Michael Marrone is sent off! Replays show the Adelaide defender tried to wrestle the ball from a ballkid who was slow to restart play, but he was a overly aggressive in doing so and the kid ends up on the deck! Marrone is piled on by Simon and co. before order is restored and Marrone is given his marching orders.
112 min: Adelaide can legitimately claim it shouldn’t have been a free-kick to begin with for a 50-50 between Elsey and Simon, but it still took a magnificent delivery from Adrian to fashion the opportunity and instinctive finishing from Bobo to put the chance away.
GOAL! Sydney FC 2-1 Adelaide United (Bobo, 111)
Bobo with the winner, surely! Dubious free-kick about 10 metres inside Adelaide’s half, Adrian swings over a wonderful cross that is met perfectly at the far post by Sydney’s supreme poacher.
108 min: Ochieng is lucky to not receive a second yellow card for kicking the ball away. Gulum is bizarrely booked despite already being substituted, for distributing water to teammates on the far side of the pitch from the dugout.
106 min: The final phase of the game begins with Sydney on the attack but Carney’s shot is blocked. Ryall has entered the fray in place of the limping Wilkshire.
Half Time, Extra Time - Sydney FC 1-1 Adelaide United.
105 min: Ochieng now booked for a late foul in midfield. Elsewhere O’Neil is having strife with his hip, Wilkshire grimacing with ankle pain. Adrian looks fit an healthy but his long range free-kick is straight at Izzo.
Just 15 minutes away from penalty kicks.
104 min: Ochieng again! Takes possession down the left and whips in a vicious cross that somehow evades two sliding red shirts and the far post.
101 min: Two huge chances for Adelaide! Ochieng breaks down the left, he picks out Matmour with a pullback but the Algerian’s finish is tame off the outside of his boot. United recycle play and the eventual cross back into the box finds Ochieng about 10 yards out but he blasts his effort wide. A pair of golden opportunities go begging.
99 min: Again Sydney probe but the final ball continues to elude. The latest cross flicked behind for a corner, that is in turn dealt with by Izzo.
97 min: Adelaide have looked disjointed since the 90 minute whistle, conceding possession often and looking aimless going forward. Sydney have the game on their tames but they lack the required drive and penetration.
95 min: All Sydney still but they can’t find a clear shooting opportunity. Persistence from Simon, Carney and Zullo keeps Adelaide under pressure but they do enough to keep the home side out, forcing O’Neil into a long range strike that sails over the bar.
93 min: Sydney immediately on the front foot in extra time. A nice move down the left ends with Carney winning a free-kick in a dangerous area but Buijs can’t belt the set piece on target.
91 min: Extra time underway here at Allianz Stadium.
Full Time - Sydney FC 1-1 Adelaide United
That penalty shout was the final action of the regulation 90 minutes. Sydney FC will be disappointed not to have sewn the game up already. Adelaide United will be delighted by their fightback.
30 more minutes on the way.
90+3 min: Sydney appeal for a penalty with Marrone charging down a Bobo snapshot near the penalty spot. The ball does hit the defender’s arm - and you’ve seen them given - but it would be a harsh call considering how little time he had to react.
90+2 min: Three minutes of added time to be played at the end of the 90. Sydney continue to push but passes are just missing targets and Adelaide challenges disrupting play. A corner from the right comes to nought and United do extremely well to snuff out second and third phase attacks.
90 min: Adelaide almost get in behind Sydney but Matmour loses his balance and the move breaks down. Extra time looming.
88 min: Adelaide empty their bench with Ochieng replacing Kitto.
86 min: Ooooh. Adelaide finally string some passes together with Adlung at the heart of it all. One final one-two ends with the German in shooting space on the edge of the box but he drags his effort tamely wide.
Sydney go down the other end and force Izzo into action once again. Adrian’s smart dinked cross flicked towards goal by Bobo but the Adelaide keeper was well positioned.
85 min: Save! Izzo keeps his team in it with a terrific save to denny Bobo who was ready to nod in at the far post after Carney chipped the ball across the face of goal. Sydney have upped the ante in the past few minutes.
84 min: Adlung the first Adelaide player to receive a yellow card. The German pulled Adrian back as Sydney threatened on a fast break.
We must be able to do better.
ATTENDANCE | 13,452 here at @AllianzStadium for the #FFACupFinal tonight.
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 21, 2017
81 min: Simon has the chance to win it but his drive from the edge of the box after a lovely ball from Wilkshire is straight at Izzo who stands up well.
79 min: Both sides take their turns to probe, Sydney more dangerously than Adelaide. Adrian’s weighted through-ball almost finds Bobo and almost catches Izzo in a mess but United eventually clear their lines.
Hard to pick a winner right now and extra time has to be on the cards.
77 min: Gulum has now been withdrawn by Adelaide, replaced by Warland.
75 min: Simon ends on the deck in the box but Sydney’s penalty appeals are waved away. Gulum makes an ungainly challenge but in the tangle of legs he gets enough of the ball to ensure there’s no spot kick.
73 min: Hard to discern Sydney’s new formation. Looks like two 9s with Bobo and Simon, and two 10s with Carney and Adrian.
Adelaide make their first change with Sydney FC old boy Blackwood replacing Diawara.
72 min: Simon nearly has an assist with his first touch but his layoff to Adrian does not result in a goal as Izzo saves the low drive comfortably.
70 min: Adelaide’s equaliser has sparked Sydney FC into life. Greater urgency on-field and action off it too with Matt Simon bringing his human wrecking ball stylings to proceedings. He replaces Brosque.
GOAL! Sydney FC 1-1 Adelaide United (Mileusnic, 68)
Well, that was unexpected. The game was meandering along until a long cross-field pass from left to right found Nikola Mileusnic on the corner of the penalty area. He stepped inside and wrapped his left boot around the ball, sending it arcing into the top corner away from Redmayne’s despairing dive. An absolutely superb finish. The first from an away team in FFA Cup final history!
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67 min: Long throw from Zullo almost leads to a chance for Brosque, and prompts the question - why are there not more long-throw experts in the game? It strikes me it’s a marginal gain modern teams could easily benefit from but few actually do. We need the next Dave Challinor!
64 min: Sydney have neutralised Adelaide’s positive opening to the half and wrestled the game back onto their terms. United lacking inspiration.
61 min: Just to remind you that’s a half-fit Ninkovic, battling a calf injury. Battling so much he will be replaced by David Carney.
59 min: Anything good from Sydney involves Adrian. His flouro green boots are everywhere, sliding tackles in defence, one-twos in midfield and through-balls in attack. The guy is a star.
His teammate Ninkovic isn’t bad either. His vision to lob a pass through to Brosque would have been the move of the season had his skipper converted. Alas Izzo was alert to the danger.
56 min: Adelaide’s intensity is denying Sydney any time on the ball. The defence and midfield are much more energetic, snapping into tackles and forcing mistakes. They can’t convert that pressure into opportunities though, continuing to run out of ideas in central areas.
54 min: Adelaide appear to be able to work the ball outside of Sydney on either flank at will but whenever they look inside their plan falls apart. Credit to Sydney for securing the centre of the park.
53 min: Adelaide again finding joy down the right and a decent ball in from Marrone is dealt with by a diving Wilkinson. The visitors much more purposeful this half so far.
51 min: Adelaide’s bright start to the half loses momentum when Izzo makes a hash of his clearance under pressure from Brillante. Sydney force a corner which looks promising until the whistle goes for a foul against Buijs.
49 min: Emboldened by that near miss Adelaide retake possession and burst down the right. Mileusnic can’t find a teammate with his cross though and the attack fizzles out.
47 min: So Close! Early chance for Adelaide United as Diawara goes down under Wilkinson’s aerial challenge just outside the D. Garuccio curls the set piece over the wall and with Redmayne rooted to the spot the ball canons back off the crossbar and way to safety.
46 min: Second half underway. No changes by either side which means Ninkovic continues despite that issue with his calf.
Half time at Allianz Stadium. Sydney 1 Adelaide 0 #FFACupFinal #SYDvADL #MAGICOFTHECUP pic.twitter.com/rMTVob4aTn
— Les Street (@official_lesdog) November 21, 2017
half-time #FFACupFinal entertainment - interactive 2017 @FFACup map. travel to all 715 games from your device ===> https://t.co/yW8STELX0l pic.twitter.com/syRVsi1xn5
— andrew howe (@AndyHowe_statto) November 21, 2017
Half Time - Sydney FC 1-0 Adelaide United
Milos Ninkovic’s strike midway through the half gives Sydney FC a deserved lead at the break. They could have had more during a spell of dominance from around the tenth to the thirtieth minute but since then Adelaide have steadied.
Join me for the second half in a few minutes.
45+3: Adelaide have regrouped in the last few minutes after Sydney threatened to run away with things. A TV graphic illustrating seven of the last eight deliveries into the penalty area have come from the Reds. Unfortunately most of them have been unthreatening.
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45 min: For the third time in a few minutes Adelaide have some joy down their left. Kitto gets in behind towards the corner but his cross is blocked at source and out for a corner. The set piece is dealt with well by Redmayne but Adelaide recycle possession, eventually forcing their first proper effort on goal for some time, but it’s straight at the keeper.
44 min: Second booking of the night goes to Luke Wilkshire for a clumsy elbow-first attempt at contesting a header.
41 min: Sydney playing with ten men for a short period while Ninkovic receives treatment. Adelaide almost capitalise but it’s a couple of false starts down the left with delivery into the box letting them down.
38 min: Matmour finally gets the ball in a promising position but two blue shirts are on him like flies around a dropped sausage. The outlet for Sydney, as it has been all night, is Adrian. The Pole has been outstanding on his return to the starting line-up.
Worry for Sydney with Ninkovic down and looking ruefully at his right calf.
37 min: Great save from Izzo to deny Bobo after Gulum only half clears Zullo’s cross from the left. Sydney could be out of sight already.
36 min: That handball cry, by the way, falls into the ‘you’ve seen them given’ category as Gulum slid and deflected the ball with his right arm as he made the block on Bobo. No VAR in the FFA Cup, but there are assistant referees behind the goals.
33 min: That second nearly arrives following a long diagonal from left to right. Wilkshire’s cross hit an Adelaide player with cries of handball, no penalty is awarded and a couple of further half-chances are blocked and deflected away. United need to hang on until half-time. Their defensive set-up is getting torn apart.
31 min: More excellent play from Sydney, this time down the right. Buijs steams forward and picks out Bobo in the box but his cross is smuggled away. The home side are not sitting on their one-goal lead, they’re pushing for two, and you can see it coming.
29 min: We’ve not seen much from Karim Matmour so far tonight, nor this campaign. He was very highly touted before the season began but the Algerian playmaker has yet to assert himself in Australia.
Round of applause from the sparse crowd as Ange Postecoglou appears on the big screen. Will he - won’t he?
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25 min: Adelaide are doing their best to get back in the game but they’ve been unable to get their playmakers on the ball in dangerous areas. Sydney are expert at closing down passing lanes and allowing the opponents they consider least threatening to have possession.
By contrast Adrian is floating all over the pitch finding time and space at will.
23 min: Brosque is the first man into Griffiths-Jones’ book, presumably for dissent.
21 min: The right hand side of Adelaide’s defence hasn’t known whether to stick or twist all night, getting away with a few half-chances but Brosque’s ball onto the run of Ninkovic was too good and the finish honoured the smart build-up.
27 min: Sydney again profiting down the left after smart play from Adrian. A neat corner routine creates panic in the Adelaide box but they do enough to force it clear.
Updated
GOAL! Sydney FC 1-0 Adelaide United (Ninkovic, 19)
It was coming. Sydney win the turnover in midfield, thread the ball out to the inside-left channel and this time it’s Milos Ninkovic running onto possession and he has the class to take a touch, step onto his right foot and slot the ball past Izzo.
After a few trial runs, the home side have the goal they’d been threatening.
17 min: Sydney are probing. Adrian is finding lots of the ball, drifting between the lines and his through-ball to Bobo looks tasty with the striker in acres of space but Izzo was out smartly to make a vital sliding challenge.
15 min: Better from Sydney who are finding joy down their left-hand side. The final through-ball has let them down so far though.
After that ugly opening phase we finally have a game on our hands.
12 min: First proper chance of the night falls to Adelaide United. Mileusnic breaks free down the right, his cross is flicked on by Matmour to Kitto at the far post but his right-footed shot is too close to Redmayne who saves smartly. Should have done better.
10 min: First decent move from Sydney FC sees Bobo gallop into space down the left but after he checks back onto his right his cross is woeful and Izzo clears his lines with a goal kick.
8 min: Adelaide have now settled into some sort of rhythm, moving the ball nicely across the defence and midfield, enlivened by the occasional raking crossfield pass. The first delivery into either penalty area causes a few flutters to Sydney FC fans but Diawara is never really a threat with his back to goal.
6 min: If you’re late home from work or still distracted by putting toddlers to bed or some other household chore, don’t worry, you’ve missed nothing of note.
4 min: Still not a lot to report. Neither side able to string many passes together and the matchup of formations cancelling each other out.
2 min: Predictably scrappy, energetic early exchanges punctuated by plenty of clumsy fouls.
Peeeeeepppppp!
From 721 entrants, we’re down to the final two. The pea rattles in Kris Griffiths-Jones’ whistle and the FFA Cup final for 2017 is underway.
The message is clear from the @SydneyFC fans. #FFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/rxPZIhnjLy
— Westfield FFA Cup (@FFACup) November 21, 2017
7 - @SydneyFC's Bobô has scored seven goals this @FFACup campaign, three more than any other player and the most of any player ever in a single tournament. Aurora. #FFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/7DoOpoNFPy
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) November 21, 2017
The two teams are walking out into the Sydney evening, the home side decked entirely in sky blue, the visitors head to toe in red.
Anthem time.
Testify deux.
The #FFACupFinal needs to be made into a spectacle. It's not hard. Make it on a weekend, kids go free, fill the stands, create an annual festival around it. Frustrating that this hasn't been done.
— Dave (@eldantehicks) November 21, 2017
Testify.
Idea: suspend a-league for int break like the rest of the world and play #FFACupFinal that sat at 3pm. Then maybe crowd won't be embarrassing. #SYDvADL
— Mike Ticher (@mikewsc1) November 21, 2017
Decent conditions for football in Sydney tonight. Temperature in the high teens, a whiff of a breeze and Allianz Stadium is in decent nick.
Plenty of attention will be on the crowd that turns up (or more to the point, the thousands that don’t). 15,000 are expected - a figure that would rock Coopers Stadium but barely make an impression at Sydney’s unnecessarily cavernous home.
Joey Lynch hitting the bullseye first dart.
Gotta get the Sky Blues to do a remake of "Blue Sky Mine" by the Oils.https://t.co/IOyVmQU9c5
— Joey Lynch (@joeylynchy) November 21, 2017
The road to the final took Sydney FC up to Darwin to begin with and from that thrashing they never looked back. The Sky Blues were only drawn against one A-League opponent on their run, and they made Melbourne City look second rate in a match Adrian announced his arrival into Australia.
For Adelaide United the route has been much tougher on paper. Three A-League foes have been vanquished along the way and they sidestepped the banana skin of a trip to Heidelberg United in the last eight. The competition has been a satisfying proving ground for Marco Kurz as he gets to grip with Australian football.
Round of 32
Darwin Rovers 0-8 Sydney FC / Adelaide United 1-0 Newcastle Jets
Round of 16
Adelaide United 3-0 Melbourne Victory / Bankstown Berries 0-3 Sydney FC
Quarter Finals
Sydney FC 2-0 Melbourne City / Heidelberg United 0-3 Adelaide United
Semi Finals
South Melbourne 1-5 Sydney FC / Western Sydney Wanderers 1-2 Adelaide United
The FFA Cup has taken many cues from England’s FA Cup but there is one glorious tradition it has yet to embrace - the cup final song. Ok, so the cup final song tradition only began in the 1970s and has already petered out, but for devotees of kitsch those songs are a treasure trove.
Who can forget Chas and Dave serenading some Argentinian World Cup winners?
Or a terrifyingly flammable array of Crystal Palace shell suits in a provincial TV studio?
So, what might this year’s contenders commit to posterity?
For Adelaide United, how about a remake of the Sham 69 punk standard, If The Kids Are United?
And for Sydney FC? Less anthemic, but Blue Sky Day from Sydneysiders Died Pretty ticks a lot of boxes.
Over to you - what would your FFA Cup final banger be?
Adelaide United XI
Best available for Adelaide United who are unchanged from their come-from-behind victory over Central Coast. That means superstar Johan Absalonsen still misses out with his thigh injury.
Here is our @FFACup Final 2017 starting line up! Let's go fellas! 🏆 🙌 #AUFC #ForeverUnited #FFACupFinal #SYDvADL pic.twitter.com/rboRGL95JI
— Adelaide United FC (@AdelaideUnited) November 21, 2017
Sydney FC XI
Bosh! Full strength line-up for Sydney FC, including the returning Adrian Mierzejewski. A-League line-ups don’t get much more imposing than this.
LINEUP | Here's how your Sky Blues shape up for tonight's massive @FFACup Final at @AllianzStadium!! Thoughts? #SydneyIsSkyBlue #FFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/QhHDrTXWEa
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) November 21, 2017
The stage is set! Bring on the 2017 @FFACup Final!! #SydneyIsSkyBlue #FFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/saYfaBJD2D
— Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) November 21, 2017
Preamble
Good evening everybody and welcome to live coverage of the FFA Cup final between Sydney FC and Adelaide United.
This is the fourth staging of Australia’s premier knockout cup competition. Adelaide are aiming to become the first side to win the cup twice, after claiming the inaugural trophy back in 2014. The cup has resided in Melbourne since then with Victory and then City taking the honours. Tonight’s match is being played at Allianz Stadium, the first time the final has been hosted in NSW.
For mine, Sydney FC start as clear favourites. Last season’s premiers and champions lead the way again despite not reaching top form during the first quarter of this A-League campaign. With home advantage and Graham Arnold afforded the luxury of a near fully fit squad, the Sky Blues will be expecting to make it a clean sweep of domestic silverware.
“It’s a trophy this club has never won,” Arnold said during the week. “We, as a club, have taken the FFA Cup very seriously compared to other clubs. The reason is we want the treble, we want the third trophy. And we will get it.”
Adelaide United have made a promising start to life under new coach Marco Kurz, using the early rounds of the FFA Cup as a springboard into the A-League season. Unfortunately for the Reds injuries have interrupted their progress, limiting them to just two wins in their opening seven matches. A settled best XI would surely give Sydney a run for their money home or away, but with Kurz forced to shuffle his pack so often, and lacking star man Johan Absalonsen, Adelaide face an uphill task.
The FFA Cup has once again proven a huge success, providing a much needed connection between the A-League and the grassroots, taking the professional game to venues and communities normally isolated from the very top of the game. Victories over A-League opposition for both Heidelberg United and Blacktown City also proved the depth of talent in the Australian system, augmenting calls for a national second tier and eventually promotion and relegation.
Let’s hope we get a final worthy of the occasion.
If you have anything to contribute feel free to email or tweet me via the details at the top of the page.
Jonathan will be here shortly. In the meantime, have a read of his column on the A-League’s role in growing contenders for a national side readying for the World Cup in Russia.
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