Adelaide v Sydney FC: Craig Goodwin double sinks Sky Blues in FFA Cup Final
SYDNEY FC wanted to sign him, and Craig Goodwin swiftly became the Sky Blues’ nemesis to hand Adelaide United a record second FFA Cup trophy. WATCH Goodwin’s worldies here!
SYDNEY FC wanted to sign him, and Craig Goodwin swiftly became the Sky Blues’ nemesis to hand Adelaide United a record second FFA Cup trophy.
A superb brace in the 2-1 triumph marked Goodwin’s second coming at the Reds on a night of sweet revenge at a heaving Coopers Stadium.
CUP FINAL HERO: ‘That’s the best goal of my career’
Having surrendered last year’s decider to the reigning champions away from home, Marco Kurz’s side would not let this one slip.
And Sydney, beaten at the final hurdle for the second time in three years, will be left to wonder how it might have felt to win the Cup two years running for the first time in its five-year history.
For all the evenness of this pulsating, often hostile contest evident through seven yellow cards and 41 fouls, the 90 minutes belonged to one man.
Cue the superlatives for Goodwin, whose exquisite opening free-kick and Mark Viduka Medal-winning display will surely be a source of serious contemplation for the watching Socceroos coach Graham Arnold.
Adam Le Fondre bit back with an equalising penalty to maintain his record of a goal in every game since joining Sydney FC.
But Goodwin’s second in the 74th minute was a worthy winner, a stunning volley to give the 26-year-old his fifth Cup goal in four games.
“I liked the second goal (best),” Goodwin said.
“For me it’s probably the best goal of my career so far, being in a cup final and the timing. And on my right foot as well, it’s not something you’ll see too often.”
The cruel irony was that Sydney tried to recruit the three-time Socceroo on his off-season return from the Netherlands but he chose his hometown club, with whom he won the 2015-16 A-League title.
“We tried to sign him, and that’s why,” Corica said.
“Congratulations to him. He wanted to come home back to Adelaide, so he probably thinks he made the right choice.”
Until the final goal both sides had probed but never too incisively, and it was little surprise two dead-ball moments were the only separators.
That said, it nearly unravelled for Sydney in the fourth minute when Mirko Boland exploited gaping space down the left flank to release makeshift striker Halloran, who caused Andrew Redmayne some bother before Rhyan Grant cleared the danger.
Sydney were slower out of the blocks but set about testing their hosts’ defence courtesy of a long ball from beefy Dutch centre-half Jop van der Linden.
Le Fondre, playing his first-ever cup final, led an identical starting XI to the one that beat Western Sydney three days ago.
With hamstrung Siem de Jong now reportedly sidelined for up to six weeks to compound the loss of Trent Buhagiar, Corica had minimal room to move.
As it turned out, the enforced turnaround of veteran Alex Brosque played to their advantage as the 35-year-old skipper made mischief in the middle and linked menacingly with Milos Ninkovic.
That was until Grant took out Goodwin to give the Reds a free-kick.
Up he stepped and, with his favoured left foot, curled the ball over the wall and into the top-left corner.
Advantage Adelaide, though it lasted all of a minute.
Jordan Elsey misjudged a backpass and Brosque was at the ready, homing in on goal only to be taken out by Paul Izzo.
Referee Jarred Gillett presented a yellow card and pointed to the spot, from which Le Fondre gave the rueful goalkeeper no sniff of a chance.
With the ledger levelled, tensions simmered.
Michael Marrone, the mild-mannered protagonist of last year’s ball-boy incident, sent Milos Ninkovic into a full somersault to earn himself a booking, and Isaias and Michael Zullo joined him soon after amid a minor melee.
The antagonism lifted another notch after the break as Goodwin hammered another razor-sharp long-range free-kick a whisker wide and Ninkovic forced Izzo into a low save.
Sydney started peppering the Reds and Zullo hit the woodwork late.
But by then Goodwin had ensured this would be the first Cup final to be decided in regulation time.
Scott Galloway played in the ball and a delightful hold-up and lay-off from Ben Halloran allowed his teammate to fire home with his right foot.
FFA CUP FINAL
Adelaide United (Craig Goodwin 25m, 74m) Sydney FC 1 (Adam Le Fondre 28m) at Coopers Stadium - Referee: Jarred Gillett - Crowd: 14,448.
Originally published as Adelaide v Sydney FC: Craig Goodwin double sinks Sky Blues in FFA Cup Final
Rookie winger’s pleasant selection ‘shock’
A potential Socceroos debutant’s coffee plans quickly changed after he was notified he had been chosen in the national squad.
Striker targeting maiden Socceroos goal
Adelaide Oval looms as the perfect place for a proud South Australian to score his first goal for the Socceroos on Thursday night.