Ninkovic seals Sydney FC derby victory
Serbian hitman Milos Ninkovic has sealed a last-gasp 1-0 win for Sydney FC to see off a rallying Western Sydney in a passionate Sydney A-League derby.
A delightful overhead dink from new Sky Blues superman Brandon O'Neill allowed Ninkovic to slide home past keeper Andrew Redmayne on the 88th minute in front of 40,539 passionate fans at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
The A-League's 10th Sydney derby always threatened to go the Wanderers' way and indeed they were controversially disallowed a goal right on the eve of halftime.
But if anything, it left Tony Popovic's revolutionised side in no doubt they can match it with the grand finalists - if still not on the scoreboard.
Romeo Castelen lasted only eight minutes on the field with the Dutch flier limping off with what appeared to be a nasty hamstring injury.
His early exit made way for marquee signing Dario Vidosic to enter the fray and he made an instant impact in tandem with Federico Piovaccari.
As the crowd pulsed with tension, the midfield battle lit up.
Spaniard Dimas showed discipline and resolve against the menacing Serbian duo of Ninkovic and Milos Dimitrijevic, though he was also the culprit of a potential miss of the season when he hit the crossbar from point-blank range.
Still the Wanderers, making themselves at home in Graham Arnold's self-proclaimed mansion, looked the most likely to score, except for Dimitrijevic's close brush with the net in the sixth minute.
They were flimsy in their defensive third, but that was only on the few occasions an unpolished Sydney managed to penetrate the midfield.
Rhyan Grant admirably withstood constant pressure at left-back from Jaushua Sotirio down the flank despite being a more natural fit on the right.
On the stroke of halftime, Sotirio's improvised backward header was ruled offside, much to Wanderers fans' ire when he appeared a matter of millimetres either in front or behind Sydney defender Jacques Faty.
If the fans' chants were a constant, the game ran in frantic fits and starts and frenzied play, with Dimitrijevic and Scott Neville both booked for clumsy challenges in the first half.
Tensions flared again when, a week after Shane Smeltz's challenge left Mark Birighitti with gruesome facial injuries, Ninkovic went in for a risky tackle on Wanderers goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
But like Smeltz's, it went unpunished.
Early in the second Arnold was left screaming for referee Ben Williams to hand Neville a second yellow after he brought down Ninkovic.
Popovic reacted quickly and subbed his defender off for Brendan Hamill.
The Wanderers upped the ante and looked to have the edge, with Arnold bringing on Matt Simon for extra physical presence.
But it was O'Neill and Ninkovic who brought the goods again and ensure Sydney kept the keys to the city.
"(We were) clearly the better side," lamented Popovic.
"But in the end we're a new team and we're developing, we're evolving. You can see some of the football we played tonight."
Arnold admitted it wasn't Sydney's strongest performance but said their defensive effort under pressure was outstanding.
"But we showed a lot of character a lot of heart," he said.
"We're a work in progress and we'll get better and better and fitter and fitter."
