The A-League keeps delivering, with plenty of quality football on show around the grounds this week.
Here are your A-League Round 15 talking points.
City unstoppable
The premiers are on another level right now. In a season where the gap between second place and bottom is just 10 points, Melbourne City are so far ahead of every other side it’s not funny.
On Saturday evening Mile’s Sterjovski’s Macarthur side became City’s latest victims in a 6-1 rout at AAMI Park. Richard van der Venne, one of the best imports in the league this season, notched a hat-trick with an Andrew Nabbout strike and Jamie Maclaren brace rounding out the scoring.
What’s really frightening is how much further in front they could be, considering their only loss of the campaign came after the disruptive World Cup break, as well as the two points dropped at a scorching CommBank Stadium when Western Sydney were holding on for dear life.
I’m happy to declare the race for the premiership over, especially since Central Coast’s tilt has gone well off the rails after dropping eight points in the last three games. If you’re a City fan, it’s time to book a ticket to Sydney because I can’t see any outcome other than your team avenging last season’s shock Grand Final loss.
How are Sydney in the top six?
Despite having an unfavourable 6-2-7 record, Sydney FC are not only still in contention for the finals, but if the season ended today the Sky Blues would be playing post-season football.
(Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
It’s further evidence that our finals system rewards mediocrity, but I digress.
Thanks to Joe Lolley’s fifth goal of the season and a brace from in-form striker Adam Le Fondre, they outlasted Central Coast at Allianz Stadium on Saturday to secure another important win.
It must be said that Sydney do look good going forward, and beating the Mariners is no mean feat this year.
The issue, of course, is at the back. With Jack Rodwell’s injury status still week-to-week and Rhyan Grant missing through suspension, next weekend’s trip to CommBank Stadium for the latest edition of the Sydney Derby will be a difficult proposition.
A return home against Brisbane Roar rolls around the following week, and should they take six points from six, all of a sudden a top-four charge will begin to look quite plausible. That’s the A-League for you – you’re never really as good, or as bad, as you may think you are.
Yazbek latest youngster to earn European move
Twenty-year-old Patrick Yazbek is off to the Norwegian top flight with Viking, after Sydney FC accepted a bid believed to be in the high six figures for the midfielder’s services. Yazbek becomes the third former A-Leaguer at the club, joining Gianni Stensness and Nicholas D’Agostino.
Other young (or youngish) names who’ve departed our shores for European football in the last 12 months or so include Garang Kuol, Connor Metcalfe, and Keanu Baccus.
Granted, the SPFL, 2. Bundesliga and Eliteserien aren’t quite the most prestigious leagues on the continent, and none of these guys are walking into Graham Arnold’s Socceroos starting 11 any time soon, but it’s encouraging to see the assembly line is producing players who can garner the attention of overseas clubs.
We know that Craig Goodwin knocked back some attractive offers following his impressive showing on the world stage in Qatar, and if 27-year-old Jason Cummings keeps scoring goals at the rate he is now, he could earn himself a move back to Europe in the not-too-distant future.
This isn’t the second coming of the Golden Generation, of course. But in recent times times we’ve had – and still have – some bloody exciting Aussie footballers to watch every week right here in our own league, so let’s not take that for granted.
Golden goals keep flying in
At least in terms of attacking, the quality of the league this season has definitely risen from the last few years. There’s been a lot of entertaining games recently, and generally speaking, goals mean entertainment. At a rocking Macedonia Park, hugely talented Newcastle Jet Reno Piscopo curled this beauty into the back of the net.
Let’s hope to see more quality from the nifty playmaker.
And how about this effort from 16-year-old Nestory Irankunda at Coopers Stadium?
Just try keeping that out, A-League goalkeepers.
And it doesn’t really need a subheading again, but when will the APL learn the error of their ways in scheduling games in the middle of the day, during summer? Roar colleague Mike Tuckerman is always fighting the good fight, as are a vocal group on Twitter, but it seems the message simply isn’t sinking in over at head office.
Earlier on Sunday John Aloisi confirmed that Josh Risdon had to be subbed off during Western United’s 1-0 loss to Western Sydney because he was so badly affected by heat exhaustion. It just beggars belief.
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