Making amends
Troisi rescues a derby draw for the Wanderers
IT took five minutes for James Troisi to turn from villain to hero as he made amends to earn the Western Sydney Wanderers a share of the spoils against fierce rivals Sydney FC.
The 26th edition of the Sydney derby dished up everything from missed chances and a contentious penalty to a costly blunder, but the 1-1 draw at Stadium Australia was probably the fairest result.
It does mean reigning champions Sydney FC haven’t beaten their harbour city rivals in the last five derbies, while the Wanderers showed in the second half just how much they have already improved under Carl Robinson after they fought back from being a goal down in what they felt were controversial circumstances when a penalty gave the Sky Blues the lead.
“A very harsh decision. I don’t think it was a penalty,” Robinson said.
“Is it a mistake? In my eyes, yes, that’s a very, very harsh penalty which we had to deal with.”
Unsurprisingly, Sky Blues boss Steve Corica was adamant it was the right call.
“He (Troisi) put his arm up to block Ninko,” Corica said. “It was definitely a penalty.” Sydney’s goal might have come from the spot, but their lead on the hour mark was no less than they deserved.
Moments after Nicolai Muller chipped his effort over the crossbar after spotting Andrew Redmayne off his line, the Sky Blues were back down the other end.
Milos Ninkovic wasn’t really going anywhere, but he was bodychecked by Troisi on the edge of the box.
Soft, yes, but a penalty nevertheless, and one that Kosta Barbarouses converted to put the Sky Blues in front.
But Troisi made up for his gaffe five minutes later when a rarely seen Redmayne fumble – a calamity by his standards – gifted the Wanderers forward a tap-in to level the scores in the 68th minute.