Everything seemed to be going so well for the Western Sydney Wanderers this season, but football, like life, has a way of slapping you in the face when you least expect it – just ask Yeni Ngbakoto. Or Paulo Retre, actually.
Three months after Sydney FC were beaten at home in the A-League’s last Sydney derby at the new Allianz Stadium, they tasted sweet revenge with a spiteful 1-0 win on Saturday night in Parramatta, where the big talking point was Ngbakoto’s send-off in the second half for an open-handed slap on Retre.
Yeni Ngbakoto is restrained by teammates after being sent off by referee Adam Kersey.Credit:Getty
The Sky Blues were trying to take a corner when referee Adam Kersey was summoned to the sidelines by the VAR to review an incident in backplay a few moments earlier. Ngbakoto and Retre had been jostling for position when the former took a rather blunt swipe at the latter’s face.
Kersey came back brandishing a straight red card for the former DR Congo international, which seemed fair enough, but he was so incensed that his teammates needed to pull him away from the referee and coax him off the field of play with 25 minutes to go.
Reduced to 10 men but all of them breathing fire after that decision, the Wanderers thought they had found a reply to Sydney’s stunning 16th-minute opener from Max Burgess. But that glimmer of hope, too, was doused by the VAR, who spotted an offside in the build-up to substitute Thomas Beadling’s effort past Socceroo Andrew Redmayne.
Max Burgess introduces himself to fans after scoring a cracker to give Sydney FC the lead. Credit:Getty
There was a fiery post-script, as well, with coaches Steve Corica and Marko Rudan, old teammates at Sydney in the A-League’s early days, sharing a very frank exchange of words straight after the final whistle – and in their press conferences, unsurprisingly offered different views as who was the better team.
Rudan argued that only one side was trying to play football, and that Sydney had effectively parked the bus, despite their supposed reputation as an expansive, attacking team, and their man advantage in the last 25 minutes.
“I just reminded [Corica] that some of the play-acting and the stuff that they were doing towards the back end of the game, and even the first half … maybe the humidity got to them,” Rudan said.
“We’re a very, very fit side, we ran all over them, even with 10 men, but they started going down, play-acting, wasting time. I just reminded him of something he said to me a few years ago when I was at Wellington when I beat him 3-0. That’s all, nothing else.”
Corica replied: “Rudes is just a little bit frustrated, obviously, with their performance and the result. We took it on the chin when we lost at our home ground. He’s probably just been a little bit of a sore loser, I think, tonight.
“I can’t remember them having a real clear-cut chance – I think we probably had the better chances. I do think they played well tonight as well, but, all the possession doesn’t get you wins sometimes … it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net.”
Wanderers fans unveil their impressive tifo before the start of the Sydney derby.Credit:Getty
Not much went right for Western Sydney, aside from the unveiling of a spectacular pre-match tifo by the Red and Black Bloc depicting Freddy Krueger (evidently a closet Wanderers fan) with his claws hovering ominously over the Sydney Opera House – emblematic of the “white collar” eastern suburbs, the so-called enemy of the “downtrodden” people of the west, as Rudan described his club’s supporter base during the week.
It was a brilliant banner. Unfortunately for the home fans, that was about as visually stimulating as it got at CommBank Stadium. Their much-vaunted stars failed to generate any real attacking momentum until deep into the second half, and even then, it wasn’t much. Rudan called it a “one-off” blip, adamant they are still heading in the right direction.
Sydney FC, in contrast, started ferociously and then faded as the match wore on. But crucially, they had something to hold on to, which Burgess provided with his wonder strike from the top of the box.
A one-time charge of Rudan’s at Western United, Burgess corralled a deflected cross from Diego Caballo with his chest, jinked past Wanderers skipper Marcelo – who the cross originally deflected off – and then whacked it into the back of the net in eye-catching style.
Minutes later, Marcelo – Western Sydney’s defensive rock and spiritual leader – was subbed off with injury. Little-known Sunderland academy product Beadling was blooded for his debut to replace him.
By the time they were able to fully recover from that early blitz and the loss of Marcelo, the niggling visitors had already burrowed their way under the Wanderers’ skin, snugly settled into a defensive rhythm they were able to ride all the way to the final whistle.
This was their third consecutive win, a feat they have not managed in almost two years. It continued their impressive turnaround under Corica, whose job looked in serious jeopardy only three weeks ago amid rampant speculation that Dwight Yorke was poised to replace him.
Sydney now sit in fifth place on the ladder, just one point adrift of the Wanderers, who seemed ready enough to anoint themselves as the city’s premier club until they had to prove it on the pitch.
Not that Rudan is deterred. “What I saw tonight, we’re going one way as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
“I’ve been around the game for a long, long time, played it for a long time, coached it now for a while. We’re building into this season. Played some great stuff. We’ll be fine. I’m not bothered about Sydney FC or anyone for that matter.”
