Western Sydney Wanderers were defeated 2-0 by Sydney FC in the 44th Sydney Derby at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night, with goals either side of half-time proving the difference in a hard-fought contest.
A first-half strike from Al Hassan Touré and a late finish from Apostolos Stamatelopoulos secured the result for Sydney FC, as the visitors claimed the derby points in front of a passionate crowd.
The Wanderers created several promising opportunities throughout the match and will feel they were competitive for large portions of the contest, but were unable to convert key chances in front of goal.
Brandon Borrello went closest in the first half, striking the crossbar with a powerful effort from outside the area during a frantic spell of play that saw the intensity lift significantly before the break.
Earlier, Sydney FC had opened the scoring through Touré, who finished from close range after being picked out inside the box midway through the first half.
The Wanderers responded strongly in patches, with Steven Ugarković’s delivery causing problems from set pieces and Lawrence Thomas called into action to deny efforts from distance as the match opened up.
Just before the hour mark, the Wanderers thought they had found an equaliser when Borrello’s header from Ugarković’s cross forced a save and the rebound was turned in, however the goal was ruled out following a VAR review.
The home side continued to press for a breakthrough, with Bozhidar Kraev, Ryan Fraser and Anthony Pantazopoulos all involved in attacking passages that tested the Sydney defence, including a header that struck the crossbar in the second half.
Despite pushing forward in search of a response, the Wanderers were caught late on as Stamatelopoulos finished a counter-attacking move to seal the result for Sydney FC.
The result leaves the Wanderers without reward in the derby, as they turn their attention to their final fixtures of the season.
