Melbourne City 0 – 0 Adelaide United
While Melbourne City head coach Warren Joyce is not fazed where his side play in the first week of the finals, he says the side will treat every coming contest “like a final.”
City and Adelaide United produced an entertaining goalless draw with a finals-like intensity in front of 7,720 at AAMI Park.
With two rounds to go it is possible these two sides could meet again – either at Hindmarsh or AAMI Park – but neither side are willing to speculate or drop the f-bomb just yet.
A win would have made City mathematically safe inside the top six, albeit a loss for the Newcastle Jets against the Perth Glory will ensure this.
The contest which unfolded was a dogfight – with intensity reserved for two sides fighting relegation.
Both sides had chances to steal the points with City hitting the woodwork three times and Eugene Galekovic did everything he could and more to keep Adelaide out.
The Reds jump into fourth for now while City face another elimination final-like type match away to the Wellington Phoenix next week.
Western Sydney Wanderers 1 – 1 Sydney FC
The third Sydney derby this season would have had large viewership numbers coming from Western Australia.
Any result but a win for the Sky Blues gives Perth the opportunity to win the Premiership should they defeat the Newcastle Jets.
Though Sydney sought to drag the fight out for as long as possible with captain Alex Brosque opening the scoring in the seventh minute.
But the Wanderers, as they have recently done, pushed their opposition and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 55th minute through Alexander Baumjohann.
Both sides continued to press right until the 97th minute, with the result not only opening the door for the Glory but gives Melbourne Victory hope of sneaking into second place by season’s end.
Featured Image: Ngau Kai Yan
