Sydney Olympic no match for merciless Sydney United 58
Sydney United 58 eased to a 2-0 PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s win against Sydney Olympic at Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.
Goals in either half from Matthew Sim and Yutaro Shin helped United 58 leapfrog their hosts and move into third on the ladder at the end of round 9.
The Reds dominated a slow first half, taking the lead through Sim after a clever build up from Panny Nikas.
Nikas gave Olympic hope of a comeback when he uncharacteristically missed from the penalty spot just before half time, but Shin found the back of the net late in the clash to ensure United 58 secured all three competition points.
The visitors burst out of the blocks and put Sydney Olympic under immediate pressure as they swarmed the backline searching for an early opener.
They got it, too, when Nikas spun clear of his marker and laid a ball on for Sim. Sim placed his shot across Paul Henderson from a tricky angle to put his side up 1-0.
Olympic struggled to muster a response after conceding and gave up possession far too easily. Nicholas Olsen was very nearly played in behind the Olympic defence by Sim but Henderson came out of his goal well to snatch the ball up at the forward’s feet.
With the Olympic attack providing few threats of any interest, United 58 were presented with an opportunity to take a two-goal advantage.
Panny Nikas floated in a free-kick which caught a hand in the Olympic box. Referee Kris Griffiths-Jones had little choice other than to point to the penalty spot.
Nikas stepped up to take the penalty but dragged his shot just wide of the left upright, much to the relief of the Olympic faithful.
Despite swimming against the tide for the best part of the first half, Olympic might have gone into the break level but for a lack of composure in front of the goal.
Nikolas Tsattalios whipped a free kick across the box where it was met by an unmarked Mitchell Stamatellis, but the defender could only head his shot over the bar.
The second half became bogged down in the midfield as Olympic worked their way back into the match.
Olympic had a rare chance to equalise when a cross fell to Yu Kuboki on the penalty spot, but his volley was blocked, and the newly-introduced Peter Makrillos sliced the rebound wide.
United 58 gave themselves some room to breathe when Yutaro Shin doubled his side’s lead in the 79th minute.
Riley Woodcock streaked down the right side and clipped a ball across the top of the six-yard box for Shin to stab past Henderson.
Olympic very nearly claimed a consolation goal in the closing minutes when Peter Makrillos’ free kick was turned in at the far post. However, the goal was disallowed for offside.
Initially disallowed, the goal was given after consultation with the linesman, and then ruled out again after further discussion.
A 2-1 score line would have flattered the home side, and the match ended 2-0 to Sydney United 58.
Sydney Olympic’s Peter Zorbas was frank in his assessment of his side’s defeat.
"We had a game plan and didn’t execute it to our standards,” he said.
“We were in it at halftime and I thought we could get a goal back, but Sydney United are a good side.
"A draw would’ve been nice, but on the day they were better. We’ve just got to pick ourselves up and look forward to the Westfield FFA Cup."
Sydney United 58 defender Petar Markovic praised his team and said the match was always going to take a big performance to secure the win.
"We knew it’d be a hard ask to come to Belmore and get a result," he said
“Everyone really delivered today to help us claim the three points.
"We didn’t talk about the penalty at halftime – we knew we’d get another chance and we did with a good team goal. We’re pretty happy with the clean sheet too."
Match Stats
Sydney Olympic FC 0
Sydney United 58 FC 2 (Sim 5′, Shin 79′)
Sunday, May 7 2017
Belmore Sports Ground, Belmore
Referee: K. Griffiths-Jones
Assistant referees: J. Adabjou and R. Osborne
Fourth official: N. McOrist
Sydney Olympic FC: 1. HENDERSON Paul, 7. ANGEL William, 19. BURGESS Darcy (4. WHITESIDE Thomas 61′), 24. GLIGOR Christopher, 99. KATSETIS Paul (10. MAKRILLOS Peter 67′), 12. KUBOKI Yu, 8. MADONIS Jason, 9. PAVICEVIC Radovan, 5. SPYRAKIS Yianni, 6. STAMATELLIS Mitchell, 33. TSATTALIOS Nikolas (15. MALFARA Sebastian 77′)
Substitutes not used: 20. CONSONI Ezequiel, 25. RODIC Mark
Yellow Cards: Makrillos 69′
Red Cards: N/A
Sydney United 58 FC: 21. MANOS Thomas, 17. BILIC Matthew, 20. MARKOVIC Peter, 23. NIKAS Panagiotis, 32. OLSEN Nicholas (16. PARIC Stjepan 86′), 7. SHIN Yutaro, 8. SIM Matthew, 18. TRIFIRO Glen (22. FRAGOGIANNIS Yanni 75′), 6. USKOK Tomislav, 3. WOODCOCK Riley, 5. TOMELIC Anthony (9. VRANIC Adrian 89′)
Substitutes not used: 40. PERVAN Lucas, 8. SCHROEDER Andre
Yellow Cards: Shin 38′, Uskok 42′, Nikas 53′, Tomelic 82′, Markovic 90′
Red Cards: N/A
Player Ratings
3 – Matthew Sim (SU58FC)
2 – Panny Nikas (SU58FC)
1 – Jason Madonis (SOFC)
-By PlayStation®4 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s reporter Max Grieve
