Sydney FC (Away) 29.07.2026

Archie Gray continued with the captain’s armband, as a slightly more experience team lined up against last season’s A-League runner’s up and from the off, Tottenham pressed hard, dictating the tempo of the match.  Just five minutes in, Sydney keeper Hoefsloot passed the ball straight to Mathys Tel just outside the box and he shot first time, but it was at the keeper who beat it out for a corner.  Not from this corner, but a subsequent one, Grant wrapped two arms around Ben Davies’ waist to pull him down.  No penalty was given, but without VAR, it appears that the art of rugby tackling has transmitted to football.  As the ball went out to the left wing, Rio Kyerematen was bundled over and when the free-kick was sent in, it was flapped at by keeper, but he got it far enough away to be safe.

Manor Solomon was doing well on right, pulling a ball back for Conor Gallagher in lots of space in box.  He tried a first-time side-foot, but it was blocked by a defender and might have been going wide anyway.  Sydney were trying to play out from the back, but Tottenham’s pressing was forcing errors, so obviously they were not usually subjected to such a forceful closing down on the ball.  Halfway through the half, Sydeny suddenyl broke out of their defensive shape and an effort from 25 yards by Youlley was dipping down to Dubravka’s right and the new Tottenham keeper pushed it well away from goal.  After another two minutes, a foul by Kamijo on Gallagher on the right wing gave Spurs a free-kick that was played across the face of goal with Ben Davies stretching for it but perhaps held back again.

Solomon was fouled centrally as the dodgy tackling continued and Garuccio smashed the ball at the winger while he was on the floor, something else that the referee allowed the home team to get away with.  Tel took the free-kick 22 yards out and picked out the keeper’s top left hand corner with enough power to give Hoefsloot no chance.  It was a fine free-kick and one that bodes well, as we don’t often score directly from free-kicks.

Just after the half hour, the Sydney keeper slipped as he kicked the ball out, hitting the back of Gallagher and when the Spurs midfielder turned on it, under pressure from a defender (and possibly being held) he skied his effort at the open goal.  It was Tottenham having the bulk of the play and in the 35th minute, Lucas Bergvall won the ball in the Sydney half, playing the ball forward to Solomon as he was being pulled down.  Manor played it inside for Gallagher in acres of space inside the box and his right foot shot thumps the bottom of the left post of the Sydney goal.

A straight ball forward to Tye Hall in space put him in a good position to shoot, but he chose to square it for Kyerematen but the pass pushed him wide to the right.  Play continued around the Sydney box and came back to Rio, whose low shot to the near post wasn’t powerful enough to test the keeper.  Five minutes before half-time, MacAllister tried to shoot over Dubravka from the halfway line, but his effort went two yards wide with the Spurs keeper scrambling.  Tel was causing problems at the other end as he ran at the home defence in the area, got a bounce off one of them and shifted the ball from left foot to right, but the resulting shot swung away from goal.  Sydney had another opportunity before the break when a long ball over the top found MacAllister, who tried to lift it over Dubravka as he came out to close him down but the ball ended up going a yard or two wide.

The first half saw Tottenham dominate possession with 69% and should have had more than one goal, while Sydney took 20 minutes to start moving forward and had a couple of good chances, but the Spurs technical level was too much for the Australian side.  Their physical approach was indicative of their inability to handle Tottenham’s play and when Spurs players used their strength, the home players whinged for a free-kick.  And they moan about the Poms !

The second half started with Conor almost catching Hoefsloot on the ball close to his line and then Rio Kyerematen did well to challenge MacAllister as a cross came in, forcing the header from the centre forward to go over.  Spurs had brought on Luca Barnett-Williams, Sandro Tonali and Kota Takai after the interval and it was Luca who was released in the inside left channel to move into the area, unleashing a shot that hit the top of the bar as it went over.  Five minutes in, Gallagher won the ball high up on right, but he couldn’t get the ball across past two defenders, then Solomon, Gray and Gallagher worked the ball into a position for Conor to go past a defender in the box, but the ball ran away from him.

Then, out of nothing, a pass through the middle from de Jesus intended for MacAllister was intercept by Takai, only to take the ball to the left and into the path of Sekine to slide the ball past Dubravka to his left.  It hadn’t looked like Sydney would score, but the home crowd suddenly came to life, having had few opportunities to get excited in the preceding 53 minutes other than to cheer any misplaced pass or mis-control by Tottenham players.

Kyerematen made a good run into space on left wing, cutting into box, but his cut-back aimed for Richarlison was blocked, although the ball ran loose and Richi got there first and was taken down but no penalty was considered by the ref.  After 65 minutes, De Zerbi rang the changes with a number of subs; Andy Robertson for Tye Hall, Mason Melia for Archie Gray (with the captaincy passing to Robertson), Jamie Donley for Gallagher, Dane Scarlett for SOlomon and Hyeok-Min Yang for Richarlison.  

Williams-Barnett was getting a taste for the game and ran at a defender on the left wing before poking the ball back for Tonali to shoot, forcing the keeper down to his right to push it wide.  Then Luca was held by an opponent, but the ball ran to Andy Robertson and his low cross was touched by a defender on its way through to Yang at the far post, but he couldn’t get his foot around it to put the ball on target.  Four minutes later, our new left back stood up a cross for Yang on the penalty spot, but he headed over.

With the game entering the last five minutes, Williams-Barnett was determined to find a winner, with a run into the box only ended when a defender managed to tackle him and with ball going to his keeper and then Luca ran at goal and shot hitting a defender for corner when perhaps there were better placed team-mates.  The corner went to the far post where Takai and Melia go for it but couldn’t make contact.  The last minute saw Tottenham take a short free-kick in the Sydney half to Williams-Barnett, who turned away from his marker and hit an effort at goal, but it flew over the top from 25 yards out.

So the match went to a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.  First up was Luca Williams-Barnett, confidentially dinking a gentle Panenka down the middle as the keeper flung himself to his right, with the next four penalties converted before Lacey beat Dubravka, but saw his shot rebound away off the post.  Jamie Donley then had his spot-kick saved with the keeper going to the right, but then Dubravka made a fine save, diving up to his right to keep the ball out from Alex Popovic’s effort.  All that remained was for Dane Scarlett o put the ball into the keeper’s bottom right corner with Hoefsloot going the wrong way and Tottenham had “won”.

The game wasn’t a sell out, as many seats were empty to witness Sydney’s heavy-handed approach and the physical side was mainly the holding and pushing that wasn’t restricted to the penalty areas at corners and free-kicks.  There were some naughty tackles as well and it took along time for the referee to clamp down on them when Alexander Popovic hit Richarlison late.  If this is the standard of refereeing in Australia, the Chelsea game could be a match that needs a firm hand.

As it was, the match ended all square thanks to an unfortunate equaliser for Sydney, but it showed that even against weaker opposition, you have to take your chances.  The result wasn’t important and coming through without injuries would be a good outcome, that and the gelling of the players who took another step towards full match fitness.

• Apart from Luca Williams-Barnett’s opening penalty, which went down the middle, all the other penalties went to the keeper’s right.