Wollongong Wolves 0 Sydney FC 3
Wollongong Wolves 0
Sydney FC 3
Simon (67’, 71’) Carney (90+1’)
Sydney FC avoided being another Hyundai A-League club to be bundled out by lower-league opposition, beating a stubborn Wollongong Wolves 3-0 at WIN Stadium.
In front of a record Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 crowd of 8029, it took a second half brace from Matt Simon and a stoppage-time strike from David Carney to ensure there would be no Cup boilover.
While the Sky Blues enjoyed most of the possession in the first half, there was little in terms of goal-scoring chances at either end.
But the visitors should have gone to the break in front after they won a penalty when Wolves substitute Blake McGinn dragged down David Carney in the box.
Milos Ninkovic’s tame penalty was excellently saved by Justin Pasfield down to his right to keep the PS4 NSW NPL strugglers on level terms at half-time.
While the Wolves were more of a threat going forward in the second half, the Sky Blues showed their class with Simon striking twice in four minutes.
First he showed great courage to head home from close range just as Pasfield was coming out to gather followed up by a composed finish with his left foot.
Josh MacDonald hit the post for the Wolves late on but that’s as close as they would get as Carney put the icing on the cake at the death as the Sky Blues progressed on the South Coast.
