Sydney FC add to Melbourne Victory’s horror run

Strikes by Bobo and Kosta Barbarouses set up comfortable victory for Sydney FC over their fierce rivals.

Bobo, right, celebrates his goal with Kosta Barbarouses Picture: Getty Images

Sydney FC has claimed Big Blue bragging rights with a 3-0 win over a 10-men Melbourne Victory.

Bobo and Kosta Barbarouses struck either side of halftime before Alex Baumjohann fired home a late penalty as the Sky Blues took full advantage of Elvis Kamsoba’s early send-off.

The win puts Sydney five points clear inside the top six, while Melbourne Victory’s winless run has been extended to six games.

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In the inaugural Big Blue of the season, both sides came close to opening the scoring inside the opening half-hour when Luke Brattan and Adama Traore had efforts ricochet off the woodwork.

The game was turned on its head when Kamsoba was given his second yellow card for a stomp on Paulo Retre’s ankle, meaning Victory were down a man for the best part of an hour.

It only took 10 minutes for Sydney to take full advantage of the send-off when Bobo tapped home after some clever work from Barbarouses to play the Brazilian through.

Shortly after the break, Anthony Caceres found Barbarouses and he

made no mistake to double the lead, celebrating in front of Victory’s beleaguered fans.

Barbarouses almost had a second when his shot came off the post before Rhyan Grant’s follow-up header was cleared off the line by Nick Ansell.

A foul by Dylan Ryan in the box led to Sydney’s third when Baumjohann fired home from the spot.

The reigning champions went into Sunday night’s game having won five from their first 13 and sat only two points inside the top six.

Despite not playing their best, Sydney got the job done to turn around two disappointing results in a row before three straight home games.

Not long ago, Victory fans showered Barbarouses with love during his two successful stints at the club.

The cheers turned to boos last night when he scored Sydney’s second and plastic bottles were thrown at him.