After a dominant display last week, Sydney FC are officially through to the AFC Champions League Two knockouts.
Now, they hope to celebrate surviving their first continental group stage in almost a decade by taking care of business at home against Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo, who have reason to believe they can end their Asian tour with some dignity.
A new era of the UEFA Champions League is here, only on Stan Sport.
Before we bid farewell to Group E, let’s quickly relive Sydney’s Hong Kong glory, then size up this final opponent and see how things have changed since these teams last met.
Sky Blues clinch thanks to outstanding Ouahim
While Sydney’s initial encounter with Eastern SC ended in a comical meltdown, that match-up at least stayed on an even keel in the early goings. This would not be the case in Kowloon, as this time the Sky Blues dove in guns blazing like the main character in a John Woo flick.
Just five minutes in, Anas Ouahim cast himself as that star, taking a pass from captain Rhyan Grant and blasting it just inside the post to get the early lead.
For Ouahim’s next big move, he’d spread the wealth a little by passing to Patryk Klimala, who took one touch to pop it up and one more to smash it in, doubling Sydney’s advantage in the 17th.
With over 75 per cent possession on the half and plenty of pressure to mount, the Sky Blues would keep knocking at the door throughout the half, and in the last gasps before halftime, a long ball would once again help pry things open. This time, it was Klimala who did the helping out, dancing around a defender before dealing to Ouahim, who one-timed it low into the net and secured his second multi-goal game in as many encounters with Eastern.
Anas Ouahim celebrates with teammates (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
It was at this point, down 3-0 with their continental hopes all but destroyed, that Los Del Este remembered they’d left their best player on the bench. Noah Baffoe subbed on at the start of the second half, and when Jesse Yu Joy Yin took a free kick dangerously close to Sydney’s net, the Ghanaian-born Spaniard was right there to run up and head it home, finally putting the hosts on the board.
However, Sydney still had a death grip on possession, and when Klimala received yet another long ball deep in Eastern territory, Daniel Almazan dragged the Polish striker to the ground in the box, giving away a penalty.
Once again, Ouahim stepped up to the plate, and with a stutter-step and a shot towards the right post, the German-born Moroccan completed a deserved hat trick, putting himself just one goal out from a share of the Golden Boot lead for the competition.
From here, Eastern would do virtually all the rest of the shooting, albeit much less successfully. Even when Sydney gave away a penalty in stoppage time, Baffoe’s shot sailed harmlessly into the stands, ensuring Los Del Este would salvage no more of their pride.
A couple minutes later, it was official—the 4-1 result guaranteed both Eastern’s elimination and Sydney’s advance to the round of 16.
Catching up with Kaya-Iloilo
Sydney may have handled the Filipino champs with ease last time around, but this is not the same Kaya-Iloilo the Sky Blues met two months ago. Not only have they had more time to settle into PFL play, where they’re undefeated and standing alone atop the league table, but after getting smacked around for the first half of Group E, Kaya seem to have finally found their footing.
Avenging their loss to Eastern with a 2-1 win in Hong Kong was one thing, but in last week’s home bout with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, the Lions actually handled the Three Arrows better than Sydney.
Shuto Komaki’s goal in the 18th put Kaya in the lead for the majority of the game, and while Sanfre did ultimately equalise, Kaya became the first and likely only club to take a point off the J.Leaguers in this phase.
That alone should be reason for concern, and with nothing left to lose here, the Mighty Kaya will want to go out on a point of pride and build up organisational confidence in preparation for a potential return to Asia next year.
Daizo Horikoshi, who scored early to give Sydney a bit of a scare in these teams’ previous meeting, has established himself as the team’s premier attacking threat since, scoring a penalty against Eastern and assisting on the goal against Sanfrecce.
However, the playmaker Sydney might really have to fear is their own defending in the box—three of Kaya’s five goals have been off of penalty kicks, including the Robert Lopez shot that secured their victory over Eastern. On top of that, the Lions’ defence has significantly tightened up since Sydney last saw them, allowing fewer goals per game and avoiding the blowouts that characterised their early going.
The keys to a successful group stage afterparty
Given the situation, it might be tempting for Sydney to just punt this game, leave the big guns on the bench, and not care about the result. However, an outright loss to Kaya might mark them as easy pickings for whoever they draw at the start of the knockouts, so it’s worth using this opportunity to experiment, keep the stars fit, and give the home crowd a show.
Ouahim in particular might benefit from some more shooting chances, if only to ensure he notches a goal in Asia against anyone besides Eastern.
Long-term thinking will be of the essence here, both in terms of avoiding injury and looking ahead to the knockouts.
Whatever weaknesses Kaya can exploit will make nice juicy targets for whoever Sydney draw in the round of 16, but the good thing is they’ll have two months to prepare and a transfer window coming up soon, meaning the Sky Blues can get a better sense of which positions to prioritise in the January market.
The knockout rounds may feel far away right now, but when that moment arrives and the path to becoming ACL Two’s inaugural champions becomes clear, Sydney need to be as prepared for it as possible.
Connor Bunnellhttps://https://ift.tt/lNtjMdw Two preview: Will Talay rest stars with round of 16 spot already sealed?
Post a Comment