Alex Brosque says crushing win over Perth has re-established Sydney FC’s A-League momentum

SYDNEY FC is in a streak of form that Alex Brosque says will have rivals believing the Sky Blues are “running away with it” in the race for silverware.

SYDNEY FC captain Alex Brosque has hailed a crushing win that he believes will have psychological ramifications for the A-League’s chasing pack.

The Sky Blues go into the Christmas round with a seven-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a 4-1 win in Perth on Saturday night, giving Sydney the second-highest points total after 11 rounds of an A-League season.

Goals from Brosque, Filip Holosko, Bobo and Bernie Ibini earned Sydney their eighth win of the season, a streak of form that Brosque said would have the club’s rivals believing Graham Arnold’s side is “running away with it” in the race for silverware.

Claiming that teams were being forced to change tactics against his side — Perth tried a three-man defence on Saturday, to no avail — Brosque said the timing of the win had re-established Sydney’s momentum after a stumble in form around the FFA Cup final.

“We’re getting close to halfway through the regular season and we’ve got a lot of points behind us,” Brosque said.

Alex Brosque celebrates a goal against Perth Glory.

“We’re on a roll and it’s a very good position to be in. I’ve never experienced anything like it at Sydney.

“I honestly think that the more we keep winning, the more teams are starting to think we’re running away with the title. And big wins like this do have a psychological effect. I’ve noticed teams having to change their structures to try to contain us. But we have an enormous amount of depth and quality, and players who can change a game.

“It means we go into Christmas with a big lead, which is something we can enjoy. But one of the reasons we have done so well is an absolute refusal to take our foot off the pedal.

“The depth of our squad is such that no one would dare let up for a second. We had two suspensions this weekend and players came in and made a strong case.”

Sydney’s win was their second in a row after a brief stumble in which they won just once in four games.

Filip Holosko celebrates a goal against Perth Glory.

Brosque admitted that the Sky Blues had ridden their luck in the early stages on Saturday night, though he said limiting Glory to one goal wasn’t purely down to fortune.

“To me this was a really important game in terms of refinding the momentum and the style we had earlier in the season,” Brosque said. “Even though we hadn’t lost (in the A-League), in the last few weeks we maybe hadn’t been as convincing as we were before.

“So it was an important game to get a big win. Also defensively we’ve been great this season, and you saw desperate defending against Perth that makes the critical difference.

“It can be seen as lucky, but I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve managed a last-ditch tackle at the key moment.”

Originally published as Alex Brosque says crushing win over Perth has re-established Sydney FC’s A-League momentum