Melbourne Victory was beaten 2-0 by Sydney FC in the A-League on Wednesday.
Summary
Bobo’s opener in the 10th minute and Kosta Barbarouses’ sealer at Jubilee Stadium proved to be enough for Sydney.
Victory, which saw Nishan Velupillay make his A-League debut in the second half, fought hard but fell short.
Victory threatened early on through Callum McManaman, whose deflected strike flew over in the third minute after a terrific run down the left by Ben Folami.
But Sydney opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Bobo tapped in after Victory goalkeeper Matt Acton saved Adam Le Fondre’s header.
After a much tighter period followed, Rhyan Grant headed a Luke Brattan set-piece wide at the near post just before the half-hour mark.
Victory went close in the 33rd minute as Rudy Gestede powered a header against the outside of the post from Jake Brimmer’s cross.
Brimmer tested Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne from distance before half-time, and Bobo headed a Brattan set-piece wide as Victory went into the break behind.
Anthony Caceres drove a 30-yard effort over the crossbar for Sydney in the 54th minute of what was an otherwise uneventful start to the second half.
Velupillay, 20, came off the bench shortly after the hour-mark for his A-League debut.
Brimmer was the next to threaten as his 25-yard strike was pushed away by a diving Redmayne before Storm Roux’s header from the midfielder’s corner was eventually scrambled clear.
Acton was forced into a save by Patrick Wood in the 77th minute, but Barbarouses struck soon after for Sydney.
Player in focus
Result
Hyundai A-League 2020/21
Sydney FC 2 (Bobo 10′, Kosta Barbarouses 83′)
Melbourne Victory 0
Sydney FC: Redmayne (gk); Grant (Van der Saag 86′), Wilkinson (c), Warland, King; Barbarouses (Ivanovic 86′), Brattan (Baumjohann 74′), Retre, Caceres; Bobo (Wood 74′), Le Fondre (Ninkovic 62′).
Melbourne Victory: Acton (gk); Roux, Ansell (Ryan 35′), Broxham (c), Traore; Butterfield, Brimmer; McManaman (Velupillay 62′), Kamsoba (Barnett 62′), Folami; Gestede.
Yellow cards: Brattan 30′, Brimmer 45′, Folami 46′, Barnett 90+3′
Red cards: Nil
Attendance: TBA
Venue: Jubilee Stadium
Next up
Victory hosts Adelaide United at AAMI Park on Sunday, May 23 in a game which marks Member Recognition Round.
