Sydney FC strolls through the Central Coast Mariners’ door

Alex Brosque netted his first hat-trick in the A-League as Sydney FC scored a 5-2 win over Central Coast last night.

Alex Brosque in celebration mode. Picture: Getty Images.

Two Kalifa Cisse brain snaps in the space of three minutes have cost the Central Coast a shot at what could’ve been one of the upsets of A-League season. Instead Alex Brosque netted his first hat-trick in the competition and Adam Le Fondre made history to give Sydney FC a 5-2 victory over the 10-man Mariners at Jubilee Stadium last night.

Connor Pain and Aiden O’Neill both scored for the visitors, though Aaron Calver had the final say to provisionally lift the Sky Blues to the top of the table. Central Coast were dreaming of their first victory of the campaign early when Pain beat Andrew Redmayne at his near post for the opener.

But then came two moments of madness from Cisse that resulted in two yellow cards and a confrontation with assistant coach Nick Montgomery after he was sent off in the 26th minute.

And while the Mariners held on to retain their one-goal lead at halftime, it didn’t take long for Steve Corica’s side to take advantage of the extra man after the break.

In fact, it took just 10 minutes for Sydney FC to put away the struggling Mariners.

Brosque began the rout in the 49th minute with an exquisite backheel of a De Jong cross.

Two minutes later De Jong, in what was easily his best outing for the club in his debut season, provided a teasing through ball that drew a contentious foul in the box from Jacob Melling.

The Mariners midfielder appeared to have got the ball ahead of Le Fondre, however replays showed his back leg also caught the Sky Blues striker. And the league’s leading scorer made no mistake from the spot to score his 10th goal in 11 games and beating the competition record for the milestone set by Bruno Fornaroli.

Brosque continued the avalanche when he reacted quickly to Ben Kennedy’s save of his initial header, getting up quickly to volley home in the 58th minute.

AAP