Despite a lacklustre start to the season in Melbourne, the other states enjoyed some juicier matches.
Sydney FC managed a clean 2-0 win against Newcastle Jets, with Alessandro Del Piero picking up where he left off last season, scoring the first goal.
The veteran Italian then set up Joel Chianese’s strike 15 minutes after the break to seal a well-deserved three points in front of more than 20,000 fans.
They will travel to Brisbane this week to take on Roar in a heated but important match. Sydney FC has struggled in the sunshine state, and won’t be taking anything for granted after a round one win.
“Brisbane has been a difficult trip for us, it’s been 6 years since Sydney have won up there,” says Sydney FC coach Frank Farina.
Round one promised a Grand final rematch, and it delivered no insight into the future of season, ending in a 1-1 draw.
Western Sydney Wanderers chose to bench their star, Shinji Ono, for much of the game, but the substitution ended up paying dividends as he assisted the team’s only goal to equalize.
Ex-Melbourne Victory star Marcos Flores started for Central Coast Mariners for the first time, who assisted the first goal of the match from Mitchell Duke.
Title holders, Central Coast Mariners will travel to Melbourne this week to take on Melbourne Heart, while Western Sydney Wanderers take on Wellington Phoenix at home, where they can both prove their dominance again.
John Aloisi was visibly happier with his team’s performance at the Melbourne Derby than Victory’s Ange Postecoglou was last week, showing that his team’s defensive skills were on par, holding much of the possession. It just lacked follow through, which the team would have been working on in training.
The Mariners have to juggle the away fatigue, but will make a strong debut at AAMI Park tomorrow.
Question marks still remain on whether the Mariner’s coach, Graham Arnold, will be called up for the Socceroos top job, so this game might be one of his last.
Newcastle Jets will be hoping to put their first loss behind them as they take on Perth Glory at home.
Perth showed their pre-season training wheels were still on, succumbing 3-1 to a better formed Adelaide United.
New United coach, Joseph Gombau, couldn’t have asked for a better start, and will wreak havoc against a travelling Melbourne Victory tonight. Melbourne Victory hasn’t had much luck against United since last season, and will be desperate to change their fate.
