This week, for the first time in club history, Sydney FC will visit Thailand for the second leg of the AFC Champions League Two Round of 16, and it’ll be all business in the Land of Smiles.
After an apparent home victory turned to a draw at the last second, the Sky Blues must now face Bangkok United at a hostile environment where their opponents have thrived all tournament long.
With all of Australia’s continental hopes beyond this week on Sydney’s shoulders, at least on the men’s side of things, this should be as intense as a Muay Thai title fight at Lumpinee Stadium. Before it all kicks off, let’s review how things got this way and look ahead to see how Sydney can ensure their survival.
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Super-sub Segecic’s heroics squandered
As the fight began at Allianz Stadium, both sides came out swinging. The opening minutes were flush with chances and scoring opportunities, though neither Sydney nor Bangkok were able to make anything of them early on.
Over the course of the first half, the Sky Blues would establish themselves as the more possessive side, maintaining the ball for over 60 per cent of the opening 45, but though they took 12 shots, only three even compelled Angels keeper Patiwat Khammai to make saves.
Coming back from halftime, it was still scoreless, but the Sky Blues appeared comfortably in control. That would change in a hurry, however, as a sliding tackle from keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares gave away a penalty. Richario Živković stepped up for the honors, and Devenish-Mears guessed the shot correctly, but mistimed his dive, meaning the ball went in and the Angels took the lead.
Fortunately, there was plenty of time left for a hero to emerge on Sydney’s side, and he arrived in the 55th minute, when Adrian Segecic subbed on for Corey Hollman in the midfield.
The 20-year-old didn’t wait long to make an impact, either—just five minutes into his shift, he and fellow substitute Douglas Costa got up to some action in the penalty box, and though Segecic nearly fumbled the ball away to an opposing defender, he was able to wring it back and fire at close range to level the score.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
With the stakes raised and the rain starting to come down, Sydney kept hunting for a chance to double their score, and in the 79th, they’d find it. Anthony Caceres came through with the assist, dealing to Segecic, who took a run for better position, then launched a rocket from just outside the box that went right into the top corner, giving Segecic his brace and Sydney the all-important lead.
However, it was at this point that Sydney loosened their grip on possession and allowed Bangkok to climb back into a rhythm, and in stoppage time, the Sky Blues paid dearly for that mistake. After some ping-pong passing around on the Angels’ part, Pratama Arhan sent a through ball for Thitipan Puangchan, who found just the right angle to slot it over Devenish-Meares’s shoulder.
After a VAR review confirmed Puangchan was onside, the advantage Sydney hoped to carry north to Bangkok vanished before their very eyes. Costa and Segecic both made valiant attempts to restore that lead, but the former’s shot sailed into the stands, the latter’s got blocked, and the final whistle set up this do-or-die confrontation.
The keys to besting Bangkok
There are two key lessons Sydney need to keep in mind if they want to avoid repeating last week’s mistakes. The first is in defensive discipline, something the Sky Blues forgot about at the worst possible moments.
Devenish-Meares’s hasty slide at the start of the second half gave away a penalty and ensuing goal that effectively erased all the team’s previous work, and when Puangchan made his run, the momentary lapse in tracking gave him all the space he needed to find and take the decisive shot.
While nowhere near the sloppiest performance of their season, it can—and in this case did—mean everything against an opponent as good as Bangkok United are, and they’ll need to avoid handing such opportunities over in this return leg to make their next lead stick.
This feeds into the other big lesson of staying hungry and possessive of the ball. Once Sydney went up 2-1, they simply weren’t as sustained or dominant in possession as they had been beforehand, and that gave the Angels threads of life to cling to and climb up.
If the Sky Blues can put themselves in a favourable position again, it might be in their best interest to pretend the score is still tied and play accordingly, with the aim of smothering any oxygen the Angels might use to fuel their fire and putting the game out of reach.
As rough as it is to be heading up to Bangkok tied instead of in the lead, there is still some solace in this position. Sydney now know firsthand that they’re a match for BUFC, and that they have the talent on hand to taste victory. If they take control of the match’s flow, block out the crowd noise, and avoid repeating last week’s mistakes, they should be able to make it out of Thailand alive.
If Sydney survive, it’s all but guaranteed that they’ll face South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who enter their second leg with a whopping 4-0 lead over less-fortunate Bangkok side Port. If they don’t, their journey ends here, and Australia is in danger of sliding down the AFC coefficient rankings. Whatever happens, though, this has all the makings of a match to remember.
Connor Bunnellhttps://https://ift.tt/FCTHnqx Two preview: Can Sky Blues overcome last-gap equaliser in tough Thai trip?
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