Del Piero stars in Sydney blockbuster loss to Jets

It took 25 minutes for Del Piero to score his first goal for Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium. 25 minutes. A textbook bending freekick had Jets keeper Ben Kennedy diving backwards in vain, levelling the scores between the teams.

Credit: Football Through A Lens

Not to be out-marqueed, Emile Heskey also scored his first A-League goal in the opening stanza. A defensive error from Terry McFlynn saw a cross found Heskey who easily lost his marker - Adam Griffiths – and slammed it past Necevski from inside the box.

Newcastle drew first blood in the match through an attempted clearance by Trent McClenahan after a Jets corner. Ryan Griffiths hit home to give the travelling side a one nil advantage inside 11 minutes.

Despite the ultimate 3-2 result to the away side it was the Sydney marquee player's night, Alessandro starring in a superb match of football. The Sky Blues lifted exponentially around him, but it was still not enough to beat the team they lost to a few weeks ago in pre-season.

His first goal wasn't his first shot though and on 18 minutes a Del Piero strike went over the bar so high that if Zadkovich had taken it he'd be massacred. The term “Down Under” could certainly have been applied as motivation post Del Piero shot. Not that he needed any motivation.

Newcastle held a 2-1 lead into the break. Ruben Zadkovich had the opportunity to make it three for the Jets with a freekick similarly placed to Del Piero's in the first half. The ball was again placed left of the keeper but Necevski was equal to it, shunning it wide.

On 63 minutes Craig Goodwin did make it three, a wonderful throughball from Griffiths finding the impressive forward who in turn chipped Necevski.

The game started to get heated around the 70 minute mark, with the 35419 fans urging Sydney on and the Sky Blue desperate to live up to the hype. A couple minutes later and Sydney were back in it, Blake Powell converting a floating cross from Aussie marquee Brett Emerton.

3-2 it remained and Sydney are now chasing a developing pack. Newcastle notch up their first win of their season and will be ecstatic that Heskey is finding his feet.

And from myself as a fan? The referees obviously need a lesson entitiled “Through balls from Ale”. Just because they impossibly find their target in acres of space doesn't mean the player is offside. Conversely, when Ryan Griffiths does the same thing, it is offside.