The Canberra Cosmos were brought back down to ground when they were beaten 3-0 by
Sydney United in Sydney. Although I have severe reservations, and quite justifiably,
about the two penalties, Sydney deserved the win as they outplayed the newcomers
for most of the game.
This was the return match of Jimmy Patikas. He hadn't played in Australia at club level
for around 10 years after a spell in Europe. He played with much vigour and showed
that he had not lost many of the skill he possessed whilst in Greece. Patikas was
instrumental in both penalties, first taking a good dive and then being in a position where
he was fouled by Jason Dunn.
When Patikas was taken off, Manis Lamond came on and inspired by the fact that he was
now competing with Patikas for the forward spot, played very well and scored the third
goal, even though he could have had more.
Canberra were struggling from the beginning and Mautone had his hands full and played very
well, except for the 'kick of the season' (ask Steve about this one ;-). In the first
half they had very few chances.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half Canberra came out firing and were unlucky not to
score, but on the 9 minute mark a long ball put Patikas through and when contact was
made with Dunn, Jimmy went down and a penalty was awarded. Jason was immediately sent
off. Ten minutes later Ante Moric earnt his second Yellow Card and was also sent off.
Now for my comments about the two penalties. The first was obviously a dive, but there seems
to be a reasonable chance that Toplica actually touched him when he put his foot out. The
penalty should not have been given because the ball was too far away for Patikas to have
a play for it. The second penalty was not a penalty because the main point of contact was
initiated within two feet just outside the box and not inside the box. There was minor
contact about six feet outside, but the major contact was outside and not inside. It was
a foul and Dunn was correctly given his marching orders, but it was not a penalty.
Overall, this was a good result for Sydney United, who will now become Canberra's worst
enemy. For Canberra it was disastrous. They needed at least a draw, but with the loss
of Armstrong and Garcia already through injury and after this game, Dunn and Perinovic
through suspension and Norman Kelly through injury, it will be a hard Christmas for the
team.
As an aside to the report, I think a mention of the Sydney United Match Programme should
be dome here. I was rather appauled about the lack of interest in anything but the
Sydney players in the main team. There was nothing about the Youth team or the lineups
for the youth fixture and nothing about Canberra at all.
To me, this attitude is dangerous and could be a big factor in leading Soccer Australia
in not accepting this team re-entry into the A-League. Also, at the ground, the supporters
were not chanting 'Sydney' or 'United', but the country of nationality. I'm not against
this, but I feel that Soccer Australia may have something to say come crunch time before
next season.