- David Carney - 31'
- Filip Holosko - 36'
- Ali Abbas - 85'
- Milos Ninkovic - 90'+1'
- Filip Holosko - 78'
10-man Sydney FC stun Perth Glory to send them away in A-League final
A 10-man Sydney FC robbed Perth of a home A-League elimination final, snapping their 11-match winless run with a stunning 4-0 upset in their final match of the season.
Last weekend's boos at Allianz Stadium were replaced by cheers on Sunday as the Sky Blues finally regained their form and exited a disappointing campaign with pride.
And the goals came from everywhere with David Carney, red-carded Filip Holosko, Ali Abbas and Milos Ninkovic all scoring to leave the Glory to a fifth-place finish.
A win for Kenny Lowe's in-form outfit would have boosted them into fourth and earned them the right to host Melbourne City next weekend, but they will now have to face City in Melbourne.
Sydney, though out of finals contention and with nothing to play for, had vowed to make it difficult for their west-side foes. And true to their word, Graham Arnold's side were a class above their recent A-League form, moving the ball quickly and fluently against a team earmarked as title contenders thanks to 10 victories from their last 11 matches.
Simon spearheaded the attack with George Blackwood slotting in behind, he and Milos Dimitrijevic confusing a chasing Gyorgy Sandor. The Glory keenly felt the absence of Diego Castro, left at home due to muscle tightness. And as their attack struggled to gain traction, the Sky Blues threatened to strike and forced Ante Covic in to numerous saves.
When they finally did it more resembled a game of ping pong than football, as Holosko whipped a long ball in that rebounded off Shane Lowry, then Carney, then Alex Grant before finally falling back into Carney's possession to finish off.
Minutes later Holosko doubled the lead via a superb solo run into the box, before needling through two defenders and drilling past Covic into the back corner.
The Glory cranked it up a gear in the second half, playing with a spring in their step while Sydney squandered chance after chance. Sky Blues nerves started to rise when Holosko was awarded his second yellow card with 12 minutes to go, exiting to leave 10 men to withstand a late onslaught.
But the 8,717 crowd only had to worry until substitute Milos Ninkovic played in Abbas on the left wing for a cool finish, and Andrew Hoole used his 10 minutes on field to pick out Ninkovic and seal the result.