Sydney FC on top after defeating the Knights

Sydney FC bounced back to winning form with goals from Sasho Petrovski and David Carney giving them a 2-0 win over the New Zealand Knights at Aussie Stadium to send them to the top of the Hyundai A-League competition ladder.

Petrovski and Carney scored first half goals that sent the Sydney FC fans home happy for the second home match in succession.

The win sent Sydney FC to the top of the ladder but also signified the first clean sheet of the season. Central to that effort was Jacob Timpano, who was a tower of strength in the middle of the Sydney FC defence and he also looked comfortable on the ball.

Sydney FC made one change to the side from last weekend with Matthew Bingley coming into the starting line up for the suspended Ufuk Talay, who received a one game ban for his red card against the Victory.

Sydney FC started the match with a swift tempo and had two early chances to Petrovski and Yorke before Petrovski opened the scoring with a neat volley from a set piece in the 11th minute.

A Steve Corica corner was flicked on by Iain Fyfe at the near post and Petrovski had to hit a volley on the turn but kept the ball down well and blasted it past Knights’ keeper Danny Milosevic to make it 1-0.

Sydney FC then doubled its lead in the 31st minute when Fyfe was again superior in the air inside the penalty area, setting up Carney for his second goal of the season.

It was a similar route but a different benefactor as a quick Corica free kick was headed goalwards by Fyfe with Milosevic only able to palm the ball onto the post with Carney on hand to head the rebound into an unguarded net for a 2-0 lead.

It was all one way traffic in the opening stanza with Corica and Carney also coming close with shots in the latter stages of the first period.

Yorke also produced a double save from Milosevic and then defender Darren Bazeley off the line after he was put through on goal by Petrovski in the 40th minute but Sydney FC remained 2-0 in front at the break.

The second half started as the first ended with Carney narrowly missing a second goal in the 49th minute when Petrovski broke down the right, squared the ball to Carney, whose shot went whistling just wide with Milosevic just watching.

Bingley was next to come close when he got on the end of a sublime Dwight Yorke flick in the 53rd minute only to see his lobbed shot squirm inches wide.

Yorke spurned another chance in the 66th minute when neat work from Corica and Petrovski saw the striker away on goal. His shot beat Milosevic but also went narrowly over the crossbar.

New Zealand did enjoy a strong period midway through the second half with Jeremy Maguire, Simon Yeo and Sean Devine coming close but it is fair to say the visitors were completely outplayed.

As New Zealand circled, Corica had a great chance to put the game beyond doubt in the 74th minute when Yorke again put him through on goal despite an attempted rugby tackle from New Zealand defender Ronnie Bull.

Mark Rudan had the ball in the back of the net in the 87th minute only for referee Ben Williams to disallow the goal for a foul but Sydney FC took all three points, registering its 4th win in five matches.

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