Macarthur FC gave away a two-goal lead in their fourth matchup this season against home side Sydney FC in a 2-2 draw at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
The Bulls had a dream start to the match when team captain, Ulises Davila, won and converted the penalty to give his side the lead. It became 2-0 after a fantastic volley from Aleksandar Susnjar, in which Charles M’Mombwa delivered an incredible cross for the assist.
However, The Sky Blues found a goal back later on in the first half by Trent Buhagiar, and they found the equaliser in the second half after Susnjar scored an own goal.
Key Moments
7′ | PENALTY FOR THE BULLS! Captain Davila wins a penalty after goalkeeper Thomas Heward-Belle fouls the Mexican international in the box.
8′ | GOAL FOR THE BULLS! Davila converts from the spot, slotting the ball in the bottom left corner.
15′ | Close call for the Bulls. Sydney thought they had the equaliser after scoring a goal, only for the linesman to rule it offside.
20′ | Filip Kurto pulls off a great diving save to deny Buhagiar’s shot from the left side of the box.
26′ | GOAL FOR THE BULLS! Sunsjar scores a brilliant side-footed volley from inside the box into the bottom right corner, which M’Mombwa assisted.
36′ | The Bulls had a great chance to increase their lead after Jordan Mutch’s shot went over the bar from the edge of the box.
39′ | Goal for Sydney FC. Buhagiar scores a great goal into the top right corner from close range after a VAR review, which Callum Talbot assisted.
53’| Goal for Sydney FC. Susnjar scores an own goal to give The Sky Blues the equaliser.
60’| Kurto does well to save Max Burgess’ shot from close range to give, preventing Sydney from taking the lead.
84’| Substitute Michael Ruhs almost gives The Bulls the lead after a great run down the wing to then finding the opportunity to strike the ball from close range, which Heward-Belle saved it.
90+4’| Kurto makes a solid low save after a shot from outside the box by Paulo Retre.
“It’s frustrating,” said Bulls coach Ante Milicic. “I thought we did really well in the first half; we created some good chances, deserved the lead. We weren’t really troubled defensively, yes, they had a little bit of territory there and a bit of the ball, but we’re ok. In the end, to concede that kind of goal at that stage of the game is extremely disappointing.
“Yeah, disappointed because when you’re two-nil up, you probably want more, but in the end, I think it was a fair result.
“We need to recover well, and hopefully we can put on a run, of not only performance, but we got to start picking up points again because our performances haven’t been too bad. Look at the last two games, they’ve been decent, but we got one point. We need to recover and put on a good performance Sunday at home.”
Sydney FC: 2 (Buhagiar 39’, Susnjar 53’ (OG))
Macarthur FC: 2 (Davila 8’, Susnjar 26’)
Sydney FC: 20. HEWARD-BELLE Thomas (GK), 3. WARLAND Benjamin (2. DONACHIE James 76’), 4. WILKINSON Alex (C), 6. AMINI Mustafa, 9. DA SILVA Deyvison (14. LE FONDRE Adam 46’), 11. BARBAROUSES Kosta, 12. BUHAGIAR Trent (33. WOOD Patrick 76’), 17. CACERES Anthony, 22. BURGESS Max (16. NARSINGH Luciano 76’), 23. RHYAN Grant, 25. TALBOT Callum (8. RETRE Paulo 82’)
Substitutes: 30. PAVLESIC Adam (GK), 32. YAZBEK Patrick
Macarthur FC: 12. KURTO Filip (GK), 2. MCGING Jake (4. MEREDITH James 59’), 6. JOVANOVIC Aleksandar, 8. MUTCH Jordan, 10. DAVILA Ulises (C) (19. RUHS Michael 74’), 15. SUSNJAR Aleksandar, 20. USKOK Tomislav, 24. M’MOMBWA Charles (22. ROSE Liam 63’), 31. ROSE Lachlan, 35. TOURE Al Hassan (21. HOLLMAN Jake 59’), 99. GIANNOU Apostolos
Substitutes: 1. SUMAN Nicholas (GK), 14. NAJJAR Moudi, 37. DREW Jed
Venue: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant referees: Andrej Giev and Matthew McOrist
Fourth official: Tim Danaskos
