Asian Champions League: Sydney FC and Ulsan Hyundai draw 0-0

Although Sydney FC avoided the opening round Asian Champions League defeat suffered a year ago, the draw with Ulsan Hyundai was a limp first outing against a visiting side painfully short on ambition.

Sydney FC’s Milos Ninkovic is tackled against Usain Hyundai’s on Wednesday night. Picture: AFP

Sydney FC’s Asian Champions League campaign has begun in underwhelming fashion, held to a 0-0 draw at home by Ulsan Hyundai amidst a swirling gale that ruined any hope of a spectacle.

Though the tie gives Sydney a first point of this year’s tournament, and avoided the opening round defeat suffered a year ago, it was a limp first outing against a visiting side painfully short on ambition.

Somehow though the low-key feel of the contest on the field seemed appropriate for the atmosphere off it.

A year ago Sydney were bombastic and talking of winning the Champions League, before promptly losing 2-0 at home to Korea in their first game.

Sydney's Brandon O'Neill plays the ball under pressure from Uslan's Yun Youndson on Wednesday night. Picture: AAP

This time their Asian campaign began with far less fanfare, a meagre crowd of 4039 watching a pan-continental chess contest evolve with no great sense of urgency.

A disjointed encounter began with the referee forcing both teams to switch their kits to avoid a colour clash, and ended with Sydney’s goalkeeper overkicking clearances that the southerly wind threatened to carry all the way to the Botany port terminal in the distance. It was that kind of an entirely unsatisfactory evening.

In fairness the poise of both sides was hardly helped by the strength of that wind which swept through the stadium soon after kick off and distorted everyone’s passing range.

In both directions it was fiendishly hard to judge, and complicated Ulsan’s game plan of well-structured defence and rapid transition on the break.

Sydney FC midfielder Milos Ninkovic gets between Ulsan's Sin Jin-ho (L) and Kim In-sung on Wednesday night. Picture: AFP

Faced with a resolute rearguard Sydney have struggled at times this season, and the sightings of the Ulsan goal were sparse in the extreme.

Adam Le Fondre produced one elegant lob that cleared goalkeeper Oh Seunghoon but died away from the goal, but the Englishman’s intelligent movement generally couldn’t disturb Ulsan’s focus.

It took the Sky Blues an hour to build up any head of steam, thanks in part to the introduction of captain Alex Brosque off the bench.

Crosses from Rhyan Grant and Michael Zullo were scrambled clear, and Anthony Cacares fired in a shot from distance that Seunghoon beat away.

But when Brandon O’Neill fizzed in a dangerous freekick that was punched away to earn a corner in the final seconds, O’Neill himself took the corner and sent it sailing high over the bar, as if to sum the 90 minutes up in one moment.

Now the Sky Blues head to Japan to face Kawaski Frontale next week. At least the wind might have died down by then.