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News.com.au
7 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Teenage star Joe Lacy steals the show as Sydney FC defeats Wrexham in friendly
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac may not have been in attendance on Tuesday night, but 40,242 punters got a glimpse of a future star, as teenager Joe Lacey stole the show in the Sky Blues' 2-1 over AFC Wrexham. Lacey, 18, stunned everybody in attendance when he scored the decisive goal after curling a low shot past Wrexham keeper Callum Burton in the 74th minute of play. 'To be fair, I don't even think I really saw it,' Lacey said of his goal against the Welsh glamour club. 'I just put my hands into the air as soon as I heard the crowd. 'I've been at the club a long time and had a lot of my mates on the pitch alongside me. 'I'm very grateful for the opportunity... yeah, I'm just buzzing.' Sure, it was a pre-season friendly, but with the visitors competing in the English second tier this upcoming season, and Sydney playing the final half hour with an outfield composed entirely of academy players, the result really felt like a serious boilover. Oh, and did we mention the Sky Blues' marquee man, Douglas Costa, didn't even play? Initially, things looked to be going to script for visitors, who scored after 18 minutes when Sydney midfielder Corey Hollman helped James McClean's free kick into the home side's net. However, Alexandar Popovic struck a blow for the locals when he buried a Jordan Courtney Perkins header that had initially been parried by Danny Ward just before the break. The goal came just moments after Sydney FC was denied what appeared to be a certain penalty after a Hollman shot made contact with Lewis Brunt's arm in the 18-yard box. Probably the most surreal moment of the match occurred in the 60th minute, when both teams simultaneously made a combined 19 substitutions (10 by Wrexham and nine by Sydney). This would prove crucial, as Lacey and his merry band of youngsters out 'fairytaled' British football's fairy tale team. Rather appropriately, the winning goal was an absolute showstopper, which started deep in Sydney FC territory. Matthew Scarcella got the move started when he made a long pass to teammate Akel Akon. Thinking quickly, Akon squared the ball to Lacey, who struck it perfectly from just outside the box. Ironically, Lacey has Welsh heritage and has family living in the country. 'Before the game, I didn't know how much pull they [Wrexham] had in Australia,' he said. 'I knew they had a documentary and I've got family in Wales and they've told me about it.' Wrexham will now travel to Wellington to take on the Phoenix on Saturday, while Sydney turns its attention to its Australia Cup opener against Western United on 29 July.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Marquee man strikes for Sydney FC
Sydney FC has set up a likely AFC Champions League Two quarter-final date with South Korean club Jeonbuk after beating Thai outfit Bangkok United 5-4 on aggregate in a thrilling round-of-16 battle. Scores were locked at 2-2 heading into Wednesday night's second leg in Thailand, where a brilliant extra-time strike from Brazilian star Douglas Costa sealed Sydney a 3-2 win. 'Overall I'm pleased with the effort and the energy of the players to get the result over here and get to the next round,' Sky Blues coach Ufuk Talay said. Awaiting Sydney in the quarter-finals is almost certain to be Jeonbuk, who take a 4-0 lead into its round-of-16, second-leg clash against Thai club Port on Thursday night. The two-legged quarter-finals take place next month, with Sydney the away team for the first leg. However, it seemed it was going to be Bangkok United heading into the last eight, with the Sydneysiders – who were without injured striker Patryk Klimala (groin) and ill midfielder Anas Ouahim – trailing 2-1 deep into Wednesday night's contest before Adrian Segecic scored an 88th-minute equaliser. The lads gave 𝙖𝙗𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 in humid conditions last night 🥵A famous result in our history 💙# — Sydney FC (@SydneyFC) February 19, 2025 Earlier, English winger Joe Lolley had given Sydney the lead in just the second minute. Muhsen Al-Ghassani then equalised for the hosts in the 18th minute, with Bangkok taking the lead with a 64th-minute goal from Mahmoud Eid. Segecic's late goal ensured extra time was required to decide the contest, with Costa showing his class with a superb left-footed strike in the 99th-minute sinking the Thai club, who had been reduced to 10 men following the second-half dismissal of midfielder Thitiphan Puangchan. 'We just made everything very difficult for ourselves,' Talay said. 'In the first leg we should have been comfortable, (and it was) a similar story this evening. 'We were quite comfortable, then we conceded, and then we conceded a second soft goal. 'The decision-making could have been better at that moment … (but) I'm pleased in the end with the result.' The Sky Blues will fly straight to Perth for Saturday night's A-League match against the Glory at HBF Park.
