Review- Mar 2-4, 2018 (Hyundai A-League)
The weekend of A-League matches had at least one goal scored in it. The standout game had to be the game between the Jets and the Sky Blues, which was an end to end contest and a good advertisement for the A-League. The tempo played was of a high level. Every game was a close one, which made it intriguing for the neutral spectator.
City v Victory Review
Barbarouses finished clinically early on, but unfortunately Berisha was found to be offside, so the goal didn’t stand. In the twelfth minute Berisha played a sublime pass into the path of Barbarouses, who provided the end product with a goal for the Victory. Arzani forced Thomas into a brilliant save. Down the other end, George forced Bouzanis into a good save. Jamieson took a free kick for City, and he did everything in his power to score, but the ball hit the bar. In the Second Half, George played an exquisite cross that didn’t get the finish it deserved; Berisha butchered a volley. In the Second Half City won a penalty for hand ball against Broxham. Fornaroli took a marvellous penalty to level the scores at one all in the fifty fourth minute. Broxham made up for it when he crossed the ball and put it on a plate for George who finished with a goal putting the Victory into the lead, through an intelligent header. Thomas made a couple of crucial saves in the Second Half. The Victory finished the Derby victorious two goals- to one.
Jets v Sky Blues Review
O’Donovan received a Red Card in the fourteenth minute. Mierzejewski hit the bar, unluckily, from a sublime free kick. The Jets defended doggedly in the First Half, in spite of being down to ten men. Bujis gave away a penalty with a push on Topor-Stanley in the eighteen yard box. Petratos took the resultant penalty kick. Redmayne guessed the right way, but to no avail as the Jets took a one-nil lead. The teams went to the break with the Jets leading one goal to nil. Early in the Second Half, Bujis atoned for his earlier misdemeanour with a good free kick that was headed into the back of the net by Sky Blues striker Bobo. Shortly after that Petratos played a clever pass to Nabbout who finished with a cracking goal well outside the penalty box! It’s one of the best goals in the A-League! Petratos was again involved in a good combination and found a pocket of space, with the move ending in a fantastic shot, but it clattered into the post, bad luck for Petratos. Georgevski cleared the ball from the goal line from a shot from Mierzejewski. The game ended in a well deserved two-one victory to the Jets.
Roar v Reds Review
Maccarone wasted a chance that was fashioned by Ben Khalfallah. Neither side looked like breaking the deadlock. The game was in the balance, with neither side appearing to have any end product. Bautheac took an incredible free kick that opened the scoring for the Roar in the fourth-first minute. In the Second Half Blackwood showed great endeavour, but he failed to equalize as he wasn’t clinical and decisive enough in the final third for the Reds.
Wanderers v Glory Review
The Wanderers opened the scoring early in the First Half, thanks to a sublime assist from Keanu Baccus, which was pounced upon by Bridge to break the deadlock. Shortly after, Janjetovic gave away a penalty against Chianese. Torres took the resultant penalty and made the score one all in the thirteenth minute. Both teams had chances to go ahead on the scoreboard, but failed to capitalise on the opportunities that they were given. Late in the match Reddy was sent off for a foul on Sotirio. Djulbic was forced to play as goal keeper for the Glory for the final few minutes. The game ended at one-all. It was probably a fair result, given the balance of play.