Scintillating Sydney FC blow Adelaide away to end winless run

Sydney FC climbed into fourth on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder after a brilliant attacking display that saw the Sky Blues thump Adelaide United 4-1 at Allianz Stadium.

The home side opened the scoring in the 36th minute as Joe Lolley rounded off a brilliant Sydney FC move to make it 1-0 with his ninth goal of the campaign.

Catching Adelaide cold, the Sky Blues then made it 2-0 just 14 seconds into the second half as Lolley teed up Patryk Klimala who guided the ball beyond keeper Ethan Cox from close range.

The away side pulled one back just three minutes later as winger Dylan Pierias raced down the right before drilling a low shot beyond Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares at his near post.

Attacker Adrian Segecic fired home Sydney FC’s third just seven minutes after coming on as a substitute, tapping home from inside the six-yard box to seal the win before Socceroos midfielder Anthony Caceres added a fourth in the 83rd minute to hammer home the Sky Blues’ dominance.

The result pushes Sydney FC up into fourth on the ladder and ends a run of three games without a win while Adelaide missed out on the chance to close the gap to leaders Auckland FC who now sit five points clear at the top.

Formerly a junior at the club, Shaw re-joined the Sky Blues in October 2024 and was soon welcomed into the game early on as he was clattered by goalkeeper Devenish-Meares whilst defending a free-kick.

Looking to close the gap to Auckland FC at the top, Adelaide had a good chance to open the scoring in the 12th minute but Archie Goodwin’s square pass to Pierias was overhit in what was a big let-off for Sky Blues midfielder Leo Sena, who had his pocket picked on the edge of his own box.

Devenish-Meares was then called into action in the 16th minute, producing an excellent reflex save to deny Stefan Mauk the opener after the midfielder’s powerful shot took a deflection off Grant.

Growing into the game, returning Socceroo Anthony Caceres saw a vicious effort tipped over the bar by Adelaide keeper Cox while Pierias then curled a left-footed effort wide of the far post as the game began to bounce from end to end.

Sydney FC star Anas Ouahim then went close to breaking the deadlock twice in the space of three minutes.

His first effort – a dipping shot from the edge of the box – bounced narrowly wide of the post before the Moroccan then twisted and turned his way past several Adelaide defenders inside the box before sending a curling effort towards the top corner which was brilliantly tipped over the bar.

Goalkeeper Cox’s blushes were then spared in the 32nd minute though as he was robbed of the ball inside his own box by Klimala who then teed up Ouahim to slot the ball into the empty net however his effort was brilliantly cleared off the line by Panagiotis Kikianis.

However the pressure was building on the Adelaide defence and the home side soon made the breakthrough, finishing off a brilliant move.

With Caceres in possession of the ball down Adelaide’s right the Socceroo picked out Klimala inside the box and while it looked as though the Pole’s first touch was heavy, he then brilliantly back-heeled the ball into the path of Lolley who slotted the ball beyond Cox to make it 1-0.

Adelaide then almost hit back immediately but Sky Blues keeper Devenish-Meares made two saves in quick succession – the second of which saw him thwart Goodwin from close range to ensure the home side led 1-0 at the interval.

Trailing 1-0 at the break, Adelaide would have hoped for a fast start to the second stanza in the hope of restoring parity, however things couldn’t have gone much worse for Carl Veart’s side.

Gaining possession in the Adelaide half, Corey Hollman’s perfect through-ball found Lolley inside the box and the Englishman then returned the favour for Klimala, squaring it for the Polish striker to dispatch the ball beyond Cox to make it 2-0 just 14 seconds after the restart.

Despite the shock of going 2-0 down Adelaide responded well and got themselves back into the game just three minutes later.

Racing down the right-hand side, speedster Pierias shaped to cross the ball across the face of goal but instead lashed a shot towards the near post which caught out Devenish-Meares to make it 2-1.

With his pace causing all sorts of problems down Adelaide’s right, Pierias then beat Courtney-Perkins inside the box before picking out substitute Luka Jovanovic but the forward sent his effort wide of the post. Sydney FC then looked to wrap things up.

Breaking down Sydney’s right, Lolley sent a driven ball to the near post which was cleared to the edge of the box and while Sena slipped as he attempted to volley an effort towards goal the ball fell perfectly at the feet of the unmarked Segecic who had the simplest of tap-ins to make it 3-1.

Sky Blues boss Talay re-introduced Brazilian star Douglas Costa to the home crowd in the 83rd minute having overcome his recent hamstring woes and the Allianz Stadium faithful soon had something else to cheer.

Combining brilliantly down the left, the quartet of Costa, Courtney-Perkins, Segecic and Caceres all exchanged passes before the latter sauntered into the box and curled a low effort beyond Cox and into the far corner.

The emphatic win brings an end to Sydney FC’s two-game losing run and moves them up into fourth on the ladder while Adelaide now sit five points behind league leaders Auckland FC after suffering just their second loss of the season.