If you can count on a Sydney derby for one thing, besides providing arguably the best atmosphere at any live sporting event in the country, it’s lashings of pantomime. And so it was that when Vedran Janjetović, the former Sydney FC goalkeeper now with Wanderers, made his way to his goalmouth in front of the Cove before the start of the second half, he was greeted with jeers and a shower of toy snakes that wriggled gelatinously, if not menacingly, as they flew through the humid night air.
More amusing than Janjetović’s response – an unblinking death stare into the faces of his former sweethearts-turned-spurned-lovers – was the thought that these same Sydney fans must have planned their show of petulance and then transported their snakes into the stadium, perhaps by stuffing them deep into their jeans pockets as if they were hoping to impress someone. It was a Saturday night after all.
Meanwhile, next door at the SCG, two male streakers took up the theme and ran with it, right onto the playing surface during a BBL match. An “hilarious display” reported one particular news outlet of the dual nudie run, though you wonder if they’d have been as generous had the coves in the Cove whipped out more than rubber snakes and then taken a turn on the Allianz Stadium pitch. It’s doubtful.
What is not in doubt was the pumping ambience inside the stadium and the impressive way in which Janjetović responded to the stick he was given for having the temerity to find a new employer when he was unhappy under the old one. (That fans expect players to be as loyal as they are is an enduring delusion). Not only did Janjetović command his penalty area with the kind of reassuring authority that allows team-mates to sleep well at night, he distributed the ball nicely and made some telling saves during the 0-0 draw, the best of them in the 15th minute when he took to the air like a spawning salmon and lifted a goal-bound Alex Wilkinson header over the bar.
It is now three years and (it will matter to some) five days since Wanderers last won the Sydney derby. This will, for many out west, cause a sting that no amount of magic sponge water could assuage. Exacerbating their pain is that it’s now six games and counting since Wanderers were on the winners’ list. Consequently they remain adrift of the top six and though there are still plenty of games remaining in the regular season, Tony Popovic’s side will need to turn things around sooner rather than later, lest the semi-final positions become dots on the horizon.
Nevertheless, despite his understandable dismay that referee Peter Green turned down a first-half penalty appeal when he and his linesman missed Michael Zullo’s clear handball (let alone the clear deflection that should have at least resulted in a corner) following a shot from the excellent Nico Martínez, there was much for the Wanderers coach to be happy about. Chief among them is that it was the first time all season that Western Sydney have kept a clean sheet.
Indeed, it was Wanderers’ best performance in some time. Despite playing away, and despite the yawning 22-point gap between the two teams on the table, Western Sydney edged the contest. They might have done more than that had Sydney’s keeper Danny Vukovic not been on the ball himself. Most significant was his save to push the ball away from at the feet of Jaushua Sotirio in the 80th minute after the winger had been put through by Martínez.
Once again, however, if you can put aside the non-penalty call (in the same way you might ignore an elephant in your commode), it was Wanderers’ lack of strike power that proved particularly costly. Time is running out for Popovic to stick his head through the transfer window and spy someone who can help his side stick the ball in the net with any kind of regularity.
On Saturday night, without the suspended Brendon Santalab – who, at 34, should really be a back up anyway – Wanderers resorted to sticking teenage rookie Lachlan Scott up front. A big ask in a derby. That, combined with the team’s unwillingness to commit too many players forward, saw them become tentative in the final third, which hardly helps against a team that have, remarkably, conceded just seven goals in 15 matches. Time and again Wanderers moved the ball nicely through the midfield and into Sydney’s defensive third before suddenly retreating as if, just at the point of cashing in, they’d just remembered they’d left their wallets at home.
As for Sydney, they looked flat compared to the effervescent unit they’ve been so far this season. As such Graham Arnold seemed pleased to have got a point out the game and for Sydney to have kept their unbeaten run intact. He was pleased enough to even find room for magnanimity, praising Wanderers’ performance as their best all season.
But even at their best there were no lollies for the Wanderers. Plenty of snakes, yes, but not the sweet kind.
