Late Williams strike shatters inconsistent Sydney

Melbourne Heat continued its three-game unbeaten streak with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Friday night.

Substitute David Williams left it very late to seal all the three points after Corey Gameiro’s opener for Sydney was cancelled out by Jonatan Germano.

The game was not without controversy, however, as marquee signing Orlando Engelaar was sent from the field after a crude tackle on Hagi Gligor in the first half.

The hosts were forced to play an hour with 10 men, and had two penalty calls on either side of the break waved away by referee Jared Gillett.

Sydney were the first to draw blood five minutes after the sending off, when Ali Abbas delivered a deflected ball into the area, with Gameiro taking advantage of some very poor goalkeeping by Andrew Redmayne.

There were calls for a penalty just before the half time whistle when Nick Carle looked to bring down Iain Ramsay in the box, however, the tackle was deemed legitimate by the referee.

Two minutes after the resumption, another poor decision against the Heart was turned down after Alessandro Del Piero blocked an incoming shot with hands raised in front of his face.

It seems the Heart were fed up with Michael Mifsud’s lack of goals as he was left out of the squad, replaced by Germano who made his return from injury.

The decision by JVS proved a masterstroke when Germano drew the hosts level at the 52nd minute mark.



His first attempt at goal, after lobbing ‘keeper Vedran Janjetovic, was brilliantly saved by Matthew Jurman, however the defender could do little to stop his second attempt rolling through his legs and into the back of the net.

With their new Manchester City owners watching from the stands, substitute David Williams left it until the 89th minute mark to ensure his club would celebrate only their second win of the 2013/14 season, and what an absolute stunner it was.

After gaining possession in his own half, the forward was egged on by 7,600 Heart fans in attendance and made a dashing run through midfield, beating three Sydney defenders before cutting into the box and placing the ball perfectly into the back of the net.

It ensured wild scenes from the fans in red (and some in Manchester sky blue), giving them some hope that they can revive themselves in the latter half of the season.

Coach John van’t Schip had little to say about the referees post game, though he credited the men in red for sticking by the game plan even when disaster struck.

“At half time I told them we’re still in the game, just play how we play even if we’re a man less, we can’t change that but be organised and from there we can still hurt them.

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck, and right now we’re having that luck.”

Finals talk is still a long way off for the Heart, rooted to the bottom of the table with five points and one game separating them and second-last Phoenix.

A very different story for the Sky Blues after their thumping win against the blue half of Melbourne last week, with consistency definitely a major talking point in the change rooms.

They return home next week to take on Adelaide United while Melbourne Heart face Perth Glory in Albury.




Melbourne Heart: Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), Jason HOFFMAN, Rob WIELAERT, Patrick KISNORBO, Aziz BEHICH, Massimo MURDOCCA, Harry KEWELL (c) (Patrick GERHARDT 91’), Orlando ENGELAAR, Jonatan GERMANO, Mate DUGANDZIC (Ben GARRUCIO 77’), Iain RAMSAY (David WILLIAMS 69’)


Sydney FC: Vedran JANJETOVIC, Sebastian RYALL, Matthew JURMAN, Nikola PETKOVIC, Ali ABBAS, Hagi GLIGOR, Nick CARLE (Richard GARCIA 60’), Milos DIMITRIJEVIC (Alec UROCEVSKI 77’), Ranko DESPOTOVIC, Alesandro DEL PIERO, Corey GAMEIRO