Will Wanderers be the next victim of Sydney United 58’s epic late-season run?
The odds are really stacked against Sydney United 58 in Wednesday evening’s FFA Cup Round of 16 clash with Western Sydney Wanderers.
But the former National Soccer League powerhouse have recently made a habit of overcoming adversity. This do-or-die battle against local Hyundai A-League rivals Wanderers ought to be no different.
United 58 are currently riding an epic late-season wave that has seen the Edensor Park-based club keep their season alive week on week.
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After recovering from a mid-season collapse, the club just about got themselves into the NPL NSW finals, where they have since won three knockout fixtures in a row, including a stunning 2-1 upset win over Premiers Wollongong Wolves last Saturday.
The Reds have played 330 minutes of football in the past seven days, and also have an NPL NSW Grand Final date with APIA Leichhardt Tigers on Saturday, which will be their fifth match in a fortnight.
While battered and bruised, United 58 continue to keep on punching. And key midfielder Matt Sim believes the club are able to pull off what would the biggest shock of them all against the Wanderers on Wednesday.
“We’ve got players who are stepping up at the right time of year,” Sim told The Daily Football Show.
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“We’ve got many different threats and we can create and score goals in many different ways.
“We’ve got two very good front third number nines in [Patrick] Antelmi and [Peter] Simonovski. We’ve got experience in Liam Rose, Yianni Perkatis and Tomislav Uskok.
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“We’ve got a lot of depth across the board.
“That’s the beauty of getting to where we’re at now, we’re confident that whoever is out there can get the job done.”
Sim, who once scored four goals in 19 minutes for Central Coast Mariners in a FFA Cup 2014 win over Palm Beach Sharks, will be facing his other ex-Hyundai A-League team when United 58 and Western Sydney meet at Campbelltown Stadium.
All signs point toward the fixture being an epic. United 58 booked their Round of 16 ticket after a 5-3 thriller against St George, and last Wednesday evening were involved in an epic 7-3 win against Blacktown City.
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