Shut the gate, put down the glasses, tick it off, the fat lady has sung: Sydney FC are the A-League’s best team and will soon have a Premiers’ Plate to show for it.
Not that you’ll hear that from Graham Arnold and his cadre, of course. They speak with a pragmatism that complements their on-field spine, but no mistakes need be made: this is a team for whom winning seems their natural state, and Saturday’s Big Blue proved it.
It’s a backhanded compliment, because in what was a gritty fixture with small margins, Sydney’s efficiency was the difference. They were behind on most major measures of ascendancy, but struck twice with stunning ruthlessness, just as they seemed most benign. In other words, they scored when they needed to. The sign of champions, and all that.
But ahead of the fixture, not everybody was so sure of their credentials. Despite a sizeable points gap between both sides, money was spread evenly, as was punditry opinion. It was understandable. Arnold’s latest incarnation are not destructive in the sparkling sense. Their ability to damage the opposition is more functional than breathtaking, though one suspects this would actually please the boss more than anything else.
Given its billing as a referendum on the competition’s best team, it stands to reason that the 26 January clash was not a classic fixture either. It pitted Victory’s verve against Sydney’s steel, and while elements of both were eventually obvious, it wasn’t initially. These days, the frenzied opening is de rigueur for big matches, but this game’s early exchanges were marked by a standard of extreme pinball that threatened to last the entire half.
With both sides so compact as to render proactive incision almost moot, it makes sense that the game’s opener came via transition. While highlights packages of James Troisi’s goal will start with Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s surge down Sydney’s right edge and finish with Troisi’s bent body and sweet first-time, side-footed finish, the context runs slightly deeper. Khalfalla’s run was itself a counter to a counter-attack of Sydney’s own, making it the third consecutive rebound in a frantic 45-second flourish. It was an aberration to an otherwise uncompromising half.
While the moment itself exposed concern for Sydney’s frail edges, credit must go to Victory’s cutting edge. Indeed, it’s the triumvirate of Marco Rojas, Khalfalla and Troisi that provides most cause for navy blue optimism as the season deepens. Were both teams to meet in a do-or-die fixture in the A-League’s post-season, goals like this substantiate Victory’s hope. Khalfalla’s lightning counter-attack was accompanied by smart positioning from Rojas and Troisi’s precise finish underscored the danger of these three in combination. Kevin Muscat’s side have defensive woes of their own, but while these three are in tandem, they remain a compelling prospect.
Their opponents, however, were a study in clinical football. The goal aside, Sydney channelled Mike Baird in his pomp, effectively closing the door to any further meaningful Victory adventures. The pairing of Alex Wilkinson and new Dutchman Jordy Buijs bossed Besart Berisha throughout, rendering him a rare peripheral figure in a big-time fixture. And while Victory did enjoy some early forays down Sydney’s right, a tactical switch from Arnold saw right-back Aaron Calver in a much better position to handle Victory advances. Even the manager is in great form, it seems.
That form was further on show in Arnold’s in-game juggling of Bobô, Filip Hološko, and Bernie Ibini. His shrewd injection of Ibini’s pace significantly influenced Calver’s ability to eventually sit back, and it provided him with a genuine win-win. Not only did Victory’s attacking options dry up, but Ibini went on to score a mouth-watering winner that eventually gave Sydney all three points. A surface-level glance at the 24-year-old’s goal might show a fresh substitute simply barrelling his way into space, but that would do an injustice to the delicacy of his left-footed roll of the ball past Victory’s most experienced player, Leigh Broxham, before finishing with aplomb.
Even more ominously, Arnold’s ability to swiftly find a solution to a growing problem bodes extremely well for the men in Sky Blue. This is not a side completely reliant upon strong performances from a small few. As this fixture proved, Arnold has shaped an outfit that can be moulded to exploit the opponents on the day; a subtle but sure sign that this is a complete side.
Veiled diplomacy will say otherwise, but Sydney’s win this round all but confirms a first Premiers’ Plate since Vítězslav Lavička’s side achieved the feat in 2010. While it was decisive for its mathematical significance, Sydney’s win was instructive in its manner. In a win that seemed to arrive more from habit than reflected dominance, paradoxically, it’s for that very reason that the chasing pack will retain cause for optimism as the finals near.
