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There it is, against the run of play - the opener.
Max Burgess was the architect, and it was a typical Max Burgess move, cutting in from the right with his left foot. He tried to shoot (that would have been Sydney’s first shot of the match) but it was deflected… Anthony Caceres got a foot to it, and it fell favourably at the back post for Joel King who smacks it home.
Sydney FC are ahead!
Sydney FC 1-0 Central Coast Mariners, 26 minutes
Holy hell - Alou Kuol lunged for a pass that was just beyond him and nearly took Andrew Redmayne’s head off in the process. Fortunately for him, for Redmayne - for everyone, really - he missed. But that could have been very dangerous.
In other news Kuol has just been yellow-carded after a tangle with Luke Brattan, and the two of them seem to be having an ongoing disagreement about an earlier incident where (I think) Brattan alleges Kuol hit him behind play. I don’t think there was much in it. But there you go.
Sydney FC 0-0 Central Coast Mariners, 22 minutes
Jake Girdwood-Reich has gone down complaining about some sort of injury for the second time already. He’s hobbling off, he’s done - but Sydney have a decent replacement coming in the form of Max Burgess.
Sydney FC 0-0 Central Coast Mariners, 19 minutes
Sydney FC’s best moment so far has come from a defender - Hayden Matthews just went on a slaloming run from defence which almost resulted in a shot on goal. Had that ended up in the back of the net it would have been one of the best moments of the season! It wasn’t like he had the ball under control the whole time - he did get pretty lucky with it falling his way after a couple of tackles - but you don’t often see that sort of dare from centre-backs. Good hustle, lad.
Sydney FC 0-0 Central Coast Mariners, 15 minutes
Just as I was about to tell you the Mariners have struggled to get the ball forward so far... they’ve just had one great chance and one half-chance.
First, Alou Kuol headed on a long ball for Josh Nisbet, and he cut it across the face of goal for Christian Theoharous, who forced a terrific save out of Andrew Redmayne. And then, a phase or two after that, Storm Roux tried to find Kuol with a low cross that didn’t quite connect.
A bit of a scare for Sydney!
Sydney FC 0-0 Central Coast Mariners, 8 minutes
Anthony Caceres has just commenced proceedings for Sydney FC. Game on, folks. Let’s see how these presumably tired Mariners deal with that ferocious Sky Blue press.
The teams are about to walk out onto the pitch - and I have to say, there should be a few more people in the stands than what there are at the moment. It’s a bit sparse.
Admittedly, it’s not the greatest weather out there, but still… this game deserves a much bigger audience than this.
It’ll take a fair effort from the Mariners to get the job done here. They only landed back in Australia late on Tuesday night, and the scheduling of this match hasn’t done them any favours; for the record, Allianz Stadium is booked over the weekend for other sports.
“When stuck in Kyrgyzstan due to flight cancellations, why not explore!” The Central Coast Mariners posted to Instagram while in Bishkek.Credit: Instagram
I’ve written a bit about the club’s incredible journey through Asia for the AFC Cup, which has taken them on a sensational 100,000 km trek which has ended with some historic silverware. And they’ve flown economy class the whole way. You can read about that here.
And then, after their 1-0 win over Lebanese outfit Al Ahed, I mused on where the Mariners’ feats rank in overall Australian terms. If they do the treble, and win the A-League grand final as well as the premiership and the AFC Cup, I reckon they’ll have to be regarded as one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen. You can read that one here.
Here’s how Sydney FC are lining up:
Just the one change from coach Ufuk Talay, who has elected to bring in Jake Girdwood-Reich for the injured Joe Lolley - so no Max Burgess, who loomed as a more logical replacement. Expect a different shape from the Sky Blues, then.
And here’s the Central Coast Mariners team for tonight:
They’ve made two changes from the team that won the AFC Cup in Oman on the weekend, with striker Ryan Edmondson and midfielder Miguel Di Pizio out, and Alou Kuol and Storm Roux in.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s A-League Men semi-final between Sydney FC and the Central Coast Mariners. This is the first leg, I’m Vince Rugari, and I am strapped in for some quality football action here at Allianz Stadium.
Kick-off is at 7.45pm, so not too far away. I will have team news for you shortly.
Get excited, folks. This should be an absolute beauty.