Steve Corica has started his reign as Sydney FC’s Head Coach in style with a convincing 5-0 win over Dunbar Rovers at North Sydney Oval.
The Sky Blues dominated the first half with a weight of possession and a plethora of scoring opportunities created, and took advantage of the majority of them taking a 4-0 lead into the half-time break.
The right-hand side for Sydney caused trouble all half, leading to goals for Gallegos, Brosque and Ninkovic, before a long-range shot from Brillante on the stroke of half time put an exclamation point on a dominant first 45 minutes.
A goal just following the break from Trent Buhagiar took it to 5-0 as the Sky Blues went into cruise control for the rest of the contest and after making their substitutions, continued to create chances and defend well when called upon.
The new Sydney FC boss was pleased with his side's performance following the match.
“The boys played really well, its great – we’ve been practicing for two weeks now and the combinations and style of play we’ve been working on worked for us today. It was very nice, most of the boys got 60 minutes under their legs which is good in the lead-up to the FFA Cup game in a couple of weeks”.
“I enjoyed watching them play – the ball speed, the high tempo, the pressing – we’ve got a lot to improve on but I was pleased after two weeks what came out of it tonight”.
Meanwhile, Tony Popovic's Perth Glory cruised to a 6-0 friendly win over Gwelup Croatia at Dorrien Gardens.
Ivan Franjic and Brendon Santalab both scored their first Glory goals and Andy Keogh, Chris Harold (2) and Jacob Italiano also found the net.
In another impressive pre-season hit-out, the men in purple dominated their State League opponents throughout, with Franjic, Joe Knowles, Chris Harold and Fabio Ferreira among the standout performers
Adelaide United were also in action on Wednesday night and came away with a 2-1 win over NPL SA strugglers WT Birkalla at Marden Sports Complex.
Substitute Carlo Armiento had the final say on proceedings as his late finish sealed the win after Apostolos Stamatelopoulos’s first-half penalty was cancelled out following the re-start.
Featured image: Jaime Castaneda
