Two gallant saves by goalkeeper Glen Moss helped Gold Coast United to a 2-2 draw away to Sydney United before a crowd of 9,977 at the Sydney Football Stadium this afternoon.
In the 10th minute, the brave Moss came off his line to deny the on-rushing Alex Brosque on the edge of the box, who toed the ball towards goal with an outstretched leg, while in the 91st minute, he produced a brilliant save from Stephan Keller from 11 metres, the ball hitting him in the face before he grasped it to his body.
Poor finishing by Sydney also cost them dearly, while in the last 20 minutes they faced only 10 opponents following the dismissal of Gold Coast’s John Curtis but were unable to make their numerical advantage count.
Sydney took the lead through Brazilian Bruno Cazarine in the 20th minute. A corner from the right by Sung-Hwan Byun was flicked towards the far side of the box by defender Robson, where Cazarine headed at goal. The ball crossed the line at the left-hand post before being knocked across and behind the goal-line by Adama Traore and cleared by Jason Culina’s back-heeler at the right-hand post. It was clearly a goal and there was no dispute about whether the ball had crossed the line.
In the 23rd minute, Dino Dulbic headed wide for Gold Coast after Culina’s left-wing cross.
A minute later, Keller saved the day for Sydney with a fine tackle on Andrew Barasic after Culina’s excellent pass had released Bruce Djite down the right. Djite managed to pass inside to Barasic, but he was unable to get in a shot because of Keller’s intervention.
Djite equalised a minute into stoppage time at the end of the first half with his first goal of the season. Culina floated a corner from the right to the far side of the box, where Michael Thwaite headed it back across goal for Djite to score with a diving header.
Nine minutes into the second half, Stuart Musialik bent a shot wide of the Gold Coast goal after being set up by Cazarine.
In the 66th minute, Sydney were hard done by when Brosque had the ball in the net, but referee Ben Williams had already blown for a free-kick after a foul on Cazarine. It could be argued that Williams should have played the advantage.
Curtis replaced Robson in the 67th minute but touched the ball only once before being sent off within a minute of coming on after he thrust a forearm into the face of Sydney’s Hirofumi Moriyasu.
Sydney were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority, although they did create some good chances.
In the 81st minute, Brosque sent a left-footed shot against the base of the right-hand post but, when the ball rebounded to Cazarine, he was correctly ruled off-side.
In the 90th minute, substitute Brendan Gan headed an easy chance over the bar following Musialik’s deep cross from the right, while a minute later, Moss pulled off that heroic save against Keller.
Although the indication was that there would be 3 minutes of stoppage time, Mr Williams allowed play to continue for almost 5 minutes, but it was of little help to Sydney, the reigning champions, who are still without a win this season after 7 games and are in last place.
Gold Coast United remain 7th on the ladder after four games in 10 days, resulting in two wins and two draws.
Sydney meet North Queensland Fury at the Sydney Football Stadium next Wednesday.
Brosque, who has been out through injury since round 2, was quite pleased with his personal come-back performance, although he did concede he missed some good chances, as did the team, and he said Sydney's inability to take advantage of the extra man for the last 20 minutes was disappointing.
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