10-man Moreland City defeats Brunswick in Sydney Rd derby
Moreland City has cruised to a 3-1 win over local rivals Brunswick City despite going down to 10 men early in the second half.
An early goal from Corey Thomas set the scene for the hosts, before Kam Simsek doubled the lead just before half time.
Brunswick’s Juan Portillo pulled one back through a penalty just after the break, but Liam Francis sealed the points in injury time.
The hosts started the stronger in the Sydney Road derby, getting their first after just 10 minutes.
A fantastic set piece towards the far post was nodded back across goal by Simsek before Thomas got the final touch to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Brunswick had two crucial opportunities to equalise shortly after.
Portillo put Vithoulkas through on goal with a brilliant chipped ball, but despite goalkeeper Brandon Galgano being caught in no-mans-land, full back Ying Yang managed to get back and nod it over the bar for a corner.
The equaliser should have come from the corner after Frank Serratore’s header, but Galgano atoned for his earlier misjudgment with a magnificent point-blank save to tip the ball onto the bar and out.
Moreland should have doubled the lead at the 40th minute when Corey Thomas was brought down in the box.
He stepped up to convert his own penalty, but a brilliant diving save from goalkeeper Jake Crea denied Thomas’ shot that looked destined for the top right corner.
But Moreland didn’t have to wait long to double their lead after that; Kam Simsek got on the end of a brilliant cross from the left and connected with a diving header, giving Crea no chance.
The second half started with as much drama as the end of the first.
Brunswick won a free kick on the edge of the area and Portillo stepped up to take. His effort cannoned off the crossbar and back into play.
About a minute later, Moreland was reduced to 10 men and Brunswick awarded a penalty after Quinn McDonald was controversially adjudged to have blocked a shot with his arm inside the box.
Portillo stepped up to take the penalty and made no mistake this time, slotting it into the bottom left corner to give his side a chance.
The trickster almost equalised at the 75th minute, but his driven shot that looked destined for the top corner was comfortably plucked out of the air by Galgano.
Moreland put the result beyond doubt in injury time as substitute Liam Francis got on the end of a square ball across goal, and slotted into an empty net to make it 3-1, and give City its sixth win on the trot.
Match details:
Moreland City 3 (Thomas 10’, Simsek 40’, Francis 90+2’) defeated Brunswick City 1 (Portillo 47’ [PEN])
Moreland City: 1. Brandon GALGANO, 2. Ying YANG, 12. Shane CARR, 3. Finn HUZZEY, 20. Rob BAZZANO, 8. Corey THOMAS, 4. Quinn McDONALD, 9. Lisandro PAZ (23. Mo KURUCU 66’), 5. Yianni AVRAMIDIS, 11. Kam SIMSEK (10. Liam FRANCIS 82’), 7. Ossie KOSE (6. Julien DOS SANTOS 88’)
Unused subs:, , 17. Liam BRIAN, 16. Nathan GOURZELAS
Yellow card(s): SIMSEK 82’
Red card(s): McDONALD 47’
Brunswick City: 15. Jake CREA, 49. Peter CONSTANTINOU (77. Alessandro VERATTI 77’), 52. Reha KURUL, 45. Frank SERRATORE, 50. Resit CULCULOGLU, 48. Nick TZOULIS, 35. Anthony IANCHELLO (23. Baran KOCKAYA 64’), 10. Juan PORTILLO, 18. Matthew MURPHY (29. Lucas AOUN 46’), 00. Dimitri VITHOULKAS, 9. Ahmet TURER
Unused substitutes: 1. Christy BENNETT-SPARK, 8. George MARKELIS
Yellow card(s): IANCHELLO 9’, CULCULOGLU 25’, VITHOULKAS 35’, TZOULIS 54’, TURER 56’, AOUN 65’, PORTILLO 85’
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.