Melbourne Victory visit Sydney FC in the Hahn Australia Cup Semi-Final.
The fight for a place in the Final, pencilled in for the second weekend of October, will see two Isuzu UTE A-League big hitters face off at Jubilee Stadium on Wednesday, September 9, kick-off 7:30pm AEST.
Both sides won away from home at the Quarter-Final stage, eliminating NPL New South Wales opposition by a goal to nil, as Sydney edged SD Raiders and Victory eliminated APIA Leichhardt to set up a first Australia Cup meeting.
Each club has won the competition twice, with the chance of Big Blue bragging rights and the prospect of going clear on the competition’s honours board only adding to the narrative of a last-four tie live on Paramount+.
The Boys in Blue
Melbourne Victory, since setting up a Semi-Final showdown versus Sydney FC, have kept up their faultless pre-season form, courtesy of wins in hit-outs against St Albans Dinamo and Oakleigh Cannons.
Giovanni Savarese’s side plundered seven goals in the first of these outings, with Matthew Grimaldi (2), Daniel Matina, Harry Sawyer and James Carrocci (3) scoring in an exercise played over 120 minutes at Churchill Reserve.
Last week, the NPL Victoria Premiers, Oakleigh, were defeated 1-2 in the south-east suburbs, thanks to goals from Franco Lino and Keegan Jelacic. That contest saw Denis Genreau return from a viral infection, playing the first half, and Tom Lockyer complete his first 90 minutes in Victory colours, as 21 players got valuable game time.
The Big Blue clash comes exactly a week before the Boys in Blue make their first appearance in the AFC Champions League Two, facing Thể Công–Viettel FC in Hanoi in their Group E opener.
Semi-Final squad:
Louis D’ARRIGO, Jason DAVIDSON, Jack DUNCAN, Denis GENREAU, Michael GHOSSAINI, Matthew GRIMALDI, Brendan HAMILL, Joshua INSERRA, Keegan JELACIC, Franco LINO, Tom LOCKYER, Charles NDUKA, Malik OLUKHALE, Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, Harrison SAWYER, Harrison SHILLINGTON, Xavier STELLA, Jordi VALADON, Jack WARSHAWSKY, Philipp ZIEREIS.
Last time out
Melbourne Victory persevered to claim an extra-time Quarter-Final win over APIA Leichhardt in mid-August.
Louis D’Arrigo went closest during the first half before APIA’s Sean Symons had a goal ruled out for an offside offence after the break, but it was the visitors who ended regulation time the stronger, seeing Keegan Jelacic and Matthew Grimaldi’s efforts blocked late on.
It would, however, only take three minutes of extra-time for the tie to be settled. Jordi Valadon combined with Jelacic, and when the ball was fed to Sawyer in the box, he calmly picked out the bottom corner.
Sydney FC punched their ticket to the Semi-Final with their own 0-1 win, beating SD Raiders thanks to Takahiro Sekine’s 33rd-minute goal.
The off-season recruit, after he and teammate Mathias Macallister had seen attempts denied by last-ditch blocks, finished sharply from Joe Lacey’s flighted ball.
That would be the difference at Fairfield Showground, although the Sky Blues’ goal lived a charmed life. First, the Raiders were not awarded a penalty when Jordan Courtney-Perkins fouled Robert Eremugo desperately close to the whitewash, and it took a fine Hoefsloot save to keep out the resulting free kick.
