Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says his side paid for two "horrendous" mistakes in their 3-1 loss to Brisbane Roar on Thursday night.
Sydney FC coach Frank Farina says his side paid for two "horrendous" mistakes in their 3-1 loss to Brisbane Roar on Thursday night. The Sky Blues now have to wait for other results over the weekend that will determine whether they make the A-League finals series.
Both Sydney and Brisbane went into the Suncorp Stadium clash on 32 points, and while the Roar are now guaranteed finals football, Farina's men must rely on Perth Glory losing to Adelaide United and Newcastle failing to beat the Wanderers if they are to scrape into sixth spot.
Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero's give-away in the 29th minute allowed Thomas Broich to set up Besart Berisha for the opening goal, while defender Sebastian Ryall also turned over possession right before Brisbane's second, scored by Steven Lustica.
Ivan Franjic curled in a stunning effort 11 minutes before the end of regular time to seal the win for the Roar, and Del Piero slotted home a late consolation for the Sky Blues via the penalty spot.
Farina told reporters post-match that poor decision-making at key moments from Sydney would mean a nervous weekend ahead.
"You don't like to have to rely on other results, especially at this stage, but we don't have any choice, so we'll wait and see what pans out on the weekend," he said.
"We gift wrapped the fist two goals.
"They were just two horrendous mistakes, and we got punished. Two tap-ins really.
"That didn't come from fantastic build up work from the Roar, it came from just schoolboy errors from us.
"At this level you can't do it, particularly away from home, and we paid the ultimate price for two very bad mistakes."
A combination of errors resulted in the Roar's opening goal, according to Farina, who refused to place all the blame on Del Piero.
"That was one of the mistakes," Farina said of the ex-Juventus idol's misguided backwards pass.
"There was most probably one before that. Decision making. To play the ball into that area, even if it is to Alessandro, most probably wasn't the right decision.
"Look, it happens. It doesn't matter who it is, whether it's the most experienced player or the youngest player, it was one of those nights we got punished for bad mistakes."