Sydney FC have clinched the 2009/10 A-LeaguePremiership by defeating Melbourne Victory 2-0 at the Sydney Football Stadium. The Sky Blues produced a dominant display to take their first piece of silverware since 2005/06 thanks to brilliant goals from Karol Kisel and John Aloisi.
Sydney FC: 2 (Karol Kisel '34, John Aloisi '49) Melbourne Victory: 0 Venue:Sydney Football Stadium Crowd: 25,407
In the biggest game of the season, bar the Grand Final, a massive crowd packed the Sydney Football Stadium stands to see the arch rivals face off for the Premiers Plate.
The visitors had the best chance early in the piece when Nicky Ward combined well with Nik Mrdja and Carlos Hernandez in midfield but Ward's final shot from inside the area under no pressure was not good enough and the end result was a let off for Sydney.
After 18 minutes, Sydney were dealt a blow when skipper Steve Corica was forced off the pitch with a hamstring injury and it was almost immediately to their detriment when Robbie Kruse skipped past Sung Hwan Byun and then Stephan Keller but Sky Blues defender Simon Colosimo was on hand to defend Kruse' shot solidly and keep his side in the contest.
Sydney begun to get themselves back into the match after Melbourne's earlier chances and managed to hit the lead through Slovakian midfielder Karol Kisel who hit a volley with the outside of his boot that gave Victory keeper Mitch Langerak no chance and produced a rapturous applause from the Sydney fans.
The first half ended 1-0 to the home side who handled the pressure of the first 45 minutes of a big game very well by closing down the Victory strikers by pushing high in defence and attempting to keep tight on dangerous playmakers like Hernandez and Kruse.
Four minutes into the second term, Sydney placed one hand on the Premiers Plate when John Aloisi took possession on the ball just past halfway and with the Victory defenders failing to close him down, he took the onus on himself and struck a lovely swerving shot past Langerak for the second goal of the game.
The Victory came agonisingly close to pegging one back when Mrdja beat off close checking from Colosimo but his close range shot crashed into the upright after beating Sky Blues gloveman Clint Bolton.
Melbourne were desperate to get back into the contest but Sydney were showing resilience and managed to hold out their rivals and take out the 2009/10 A-League Premiers Plate.
