Sydney FC returned to winning ways with a confident 3-0 victory over Macarthur FC in the game that saw the home side being reduced to 10-men, as the Bulls skipper Mark Milligan was sent off in the first-half.
The Sky Blues came into this game having recently fallen prey to a 2-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners, as they looked to establish early dominance in a budding derby day rivalry.
Meanwhile, the Bulls were looking for their first win in front of their home fans, having failed to pick up three points against the Mariners and Wellington Phoenix at the Campbelltown Stadium.
The visitors showed a serious sign of intent from a corner kick in the 10th minute, when defender Ryan McGowan took on a sensationally timed volley that produced an acrobatic save from goalkeeper Adam Federici.
Just after 20 minutes had been played, the Bulls skipper Milligan took down Trent Buhagiar as the forward was rushing through on goal. With the veteran being the last man and denying a clear goal scoring opportunity due to a mistimed challenge, he was shown a straight red despite his protest to the decision.
While the Sky Blues capitalised on their numerical advantage, the finishing seemed to be lacking. In the meantime, Macarthur attacker Markel Susaeta danced around Paulo Retre on the right side of the box and sent a low shot across goal. But goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne got just enough of a glove onto it to deny the hosts.
Poor weather in Campbelltown meant that the half-time break lasted nearly an hour as opposed to the usual 15 minutes. But as the teams came out following the extended time away away from the pitch, the visitors showed strong intent but were unable to put away their chances.
Over at the other end after 56 minutes, striker Matt Derbyshire was through on goal and put the ball past shot-stopper Redmayne in a move that was against the run of play. The ominous offside flag was raised as the home fans celebrated, which meant that the goal did not stand.
Ten minutes later, Sydney FC took the lead through a poacher’s goal from substitute Patrick Wood, who had come on in place of Buhagiar. Kosta Barbarouses had fired a left-footed shot across goal and ‘keeper Federici got a hand onto it. But the youngster was in a great position to score his first A-League goal with a very simple tap in.
The Sky Blues were going from strength to strength and a few minutes later, Calem Nieuwenhof cut one through to Milos Ninkovic in the middle. The Serbian calmly chose to play a well placed shot towards the bottom corner, but shot-stopper Federici was on hand to palm the ball away.
After 75 minutes, Ninkovic was at it again as he went through on goal beating defenders Antony Golec and Aleksandar Jovanovic and put the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 2-0 through a superbly crafted individual goal.
Young forward Jordan Swibel – who had just come on in place of Barbarouses – had an impact with five minutes to go, when he set up Wood for another simple but well taken shot that saw the ball roll into the back of the net for 3-0.
As the man in charge brought the game to a halt, Steve Corica’s men took all three points in Campbelltown to return to winning ways.
Macarthur FC will take on Western Sydney Wanderers as they continue to look for their first home win next Saturday, while Sydney FC play host to Wellington Phoenix on Monday, February 8.
