Melbourne Victory suffered a 5-1 loss to Sydney FC in the Foxtel Y-League Grand Final on Friday.
Summary
Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio had brought Victory level following Jordi Swibel’s opener at Jubilee Stadium after the visitor grew into the decider.
However, Marco Tilio scored a penalty prior to half-time before sealing Sydney’s win after goals from Jake Hollman and Benjamin Koop.
Victory started slowly and it fell behind in the sixth minute, Swibel finishing powerfully from close range moments after Matthew Sutton had denied Tilio in a one-on-one.
But the visitor worked its way into the match, with Aaron Anderson forcing a save from Sydney goalkeeper Levi Kaye with a long-range free-kick in the 10th minute.
Jack Morton fired wide for Victory from 25 yards midway through the first half before Lawrie-Lattanzio was denied in a one-on-on by Kaye, who also did well to save Birkan Kirdar’s 30-yard effort.
But Victory would deservedly find an equaliser through Lawrie-Lattanzio eight minutes before half-time.
A move down the left led to Lawrie-Lattanzio being released and the forward fired a powerful low effort past Kaye.
Sutton saved from Swibel before chances for Anderson and Lawrie-Lattanzio came prior to Sydney restoring its lead, Tilio converting a penalty following a foul by Dalibor Markovic in the area.
The Victory goalkeeper made another great save by denying Swibel before Sydney took a 3-1 lead, Hollman tapping in after Callum Talbot hit the post with a free-kick.
Koop added a fourth after another rebound before Tilio headed in a cross to seal Sydney’s win.
Head coach Gareth Naven’s post-match thoughts
“There are things in sport, especially in finals, that it comes down to who wants it more? That’s what it comes down to. There were periods where we did, we certainly did want it more and I thought at 1-1 we were in the game, penalty killed us right on half-time. We came out with the hope of staying in the match, think about working harder, getting better at pressure. With extended pressure we create opportunities. Birkan had some good shots on target, goalkeeper saved well, Luis scored from pressure and it’s not enough. I keep talking about this word – players knowing how to perform consistently. Today was a day we didn’t consistently do the things that we had done against Adelaide, we had done against City, we had done against Perth Glory. What I say to the players is that Round 1 7-0 (loss to Brisbane Roar), Grand Final appearance. There are some good things that we’ve achieved and good things they’ve achieved as well. Of course, disappointed, performance is not where it should’ve been or will be, but all in all we get better.”
Result
Foxtel Y-League 2019/20 Grand Final
Sydney FC 5 (Jordi Swibel 6′, Marco Tilio 45+5’/73′, Jake Hollman 56′, Benjamin Koop 71′)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio 37′)
Melbourne Victory: Matthew Sutton (gk) (c); So Nishikawa (Matthew Bozinovski 12′), Zaydan Bello, Aaron Anderson, Dalibor Markovic; Jack Morton, William Wilson (Nicholas Hamakiotis 80′); Nishan Velupillay (Ryan Lethlean 67′), Joshua Varga, Birkan Kirdar; Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio.
