Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay believes the clean sheet his side secured in their 3-0 win over rivals Melbourne Victory will imbue them with important momentum as they look to get their A-League Men campaign back on track.
A first-half brace from Joe Lolley, sandwiched around a controversial red card to Victory attacker Zinedine Machach, put the Sky Blues on course to secure victory in the 65th iteration of the Big Blue on Saturday night, with the contest at Allianz Stadium then sealed by Jaiden Kucharski’s 86th-minute dagger.
Coming into the game winless in three, the win not only vaulted the hosts into seventh, just a point off sixth-placed Western Sydney and fifth-placed Melbourne City, but also delivered the first clean sheet of their campaign.
"Very important," Talay said of the result on Paramount+.
"We need to build some momentum, we need to win games back to climb up the ladder.
"We know we need to be in a better place and we're slowly getting there."
Placed in an early hole when Lolley fired a close-range effort home just 90 seconds into the contest, Victory’s task was made harder when Machach received his marching orders in the 16th minute.
Initially earning a yellow card after his studs bounced off the top of the ball and onto Jordan Courtney-Perkins' leg, VAR intervention saw the attacker’s sanction upgraded to a red; a statement issued soon after by Football Australia head of referees Jon Moss saying the foul constituted "serious foul play".
Machach will now be suspended for the Victory’s New Year’s Day fixture with league leaders Auckland FC.
"I'd have to see it again but looking at the screen, it's one of those that's 50/50," Victory interim coach Arthur Diles told Paramount+.
"I thought he touched the ball first and then rolled over the ball but I haven't seen it up close yet.
"It is what it is in the end, it happened ... and you have to move on quickly."
Able to go second with a win, Victory created chances as the game continued but the Sky Blues never appeared in danger.
One of the few negatives on their evening came moments into the second half when Douglas Costa, who registered a fourth goal involvement in two games when he set up Lolley’s second in the 26th minute, was forced off with a hamstring complaint.
"He’s going to be a big loss for us but hopefully it's nothing too serious," Lolley told Paramount+.
