AuthorJeffEyesRimmer The A League comes to a close this Sunday when the Grand Final between the two best teams this season takes place, Sydney FC versus Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Much of the lead up to the final has been focused on the condition of the pitch due to the rugby that will be played on it the days before. Hopefully the pitch won’t be too destroyed from rugby prior to the final and the two teams provide the spectacle that Australian football deserves. It’s the Big Blue Grand Final and it’s probably still the biggest rivalry in the A League, how will it go? Sydney FC
As we stated in our previous A League Finals Preview article Sydney FC have had a phenomenal season. They have endured only one loss throughout the entire season, 20 victories out of 27 and a record points haul off 66 points. They have undoubtedly been the best team this year and one of the best teams to watch in the A Leagues short history. They began the season at the top of the table with a win and never relinquished that position. Much of that has been thanks to Milos Ninkovic creativity for the likes of Bobo, Alex Brosque and Filip Hološko to capitalise on, with those players scoring 15, 11 and 8 goals respectively. The intensity that Sydney FC play with has been a joy to watch this season and rightly Ninkovic was voted the winner of Johnny Warren medal, officially the best player of the year award. He won with 7 votes more than his competitors. While the attackers always get the attention, it is important to note that the defence has only conceded 12 goals this season (0.4 goals per game) and have a record 16 clean sheets. The sheer dominance in the league means Sydney are the overwhelming favourites but how will they handle the pressure? They have dealt with it well during the regular season but cup finals are different. Melbourne Victory In most other seasons the Victory would have been up there for the Premiers plate, they had their second ever best points haul. However, they have come up against a Sydney FC side that’s been nearly faultless. They have pedigree in the finals and in their last final appearance in 2015 they convincingly beat Sydney FC to claim the title. Several of those players are still there; they know how to win the final. They also have Besart Berisha, the league’s top ever goal scorer with 19 goals to his name this season alone. Marcos Rojas hasn’t done badly either, chipping in with 12 goals and 11 assists this season. This coupled with James Troisi and Fahid Ben Khalfallah also providing creativity in the midfield means Sydney will have to be at their best. The underdog status is a little unfair on Victory; they are a quality team in their own right with some quality players that are more than capable of causing an upset. Head to Head This season Sydney have beaten the Victory in all three meetings, with 2-1 wins in Sydney and Melbourne and another 1-0 win in Sydney. All three games were close affairs though and Melbourne even led in two of those games. Melbourne has every chance, it’s a cup final after all, but breaking down the Sydney defence that has only conceded 3 goals at home all season will be difficult. However, Melbourne do boast the league’s top goal scorer in Berisha and Sydney will be well aware of his threat. Berisha has a ridiculous finals scoring record as well, he’s scored in 6 consecutive finals matches. If they give him a chance he will score. Sydney FC though hasn’t relied on one man this season, they have a multi-faceted attack, with goals spread throughout the team and that could really hurt Victory. They also haven’t lost at home all season and Victory has lost their last four on the road in finals football. Much has been made of the pitch being cut up and it was certainly the case for the semi-final that Sydney played against Perth a week ago. However, Sydney adapted to the poor surface well and still managed to play their quick, fast and direct play, and effectively ended the tie in the first half by scoring 3 goals to zero. This experience for Sydney could really hurt Melbourne who haven’t yet played on the surface yet. It would be almost wrong for a team that finished 17 points clear of their nearest rivals to not become champions and be given the plaudits they deserve, but that is the nature of the A League (unfortunately). Sorry though Melbourne fans, for form, their fantastic season and our traditionalist ideals we have to go with Sydney to be crowned champions. We are not (usually) ones to brag but in the 2017 A League finals so far we are four from four, so we are sticking with our earlier prediction of a Sydney FC win too (let’s hope we don’t jinx it). |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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