Lowe left in awe of ‘bloody good’ Sky Blues
IF ANYONE is painfully aware of Sydney FC’s unstoppable force, it’s the man whose A-League side fell victim to the reigning champions’ most complete performance yet.
And from what Perth coach Kenny Lowe saw of Saturday night’s 6-0 clobbering, the Sky Blues may as well have their second successive Premiers’ Plate wrapped up. The Glory were on top for the first 20 minutes at Allianz Stadium until Brandon O’Neill opened the hosts’ account.
Five second-half goals later – including another hat-trick to Brazilian striker Bobo – and Lowe was left in no doubt as to where Sydney were heading.
“In the last three games they’ve scored four, three and five but they weren’t awfully impressive, yet they won the games comfortably,” Lowe said. “They were very impressive tonight and won the game comfortably. So if they’re not impressive and they win, and they are impressive and they win, they’re going to be a tough team to stop.”
Sydney’s victory, coupled with Newcastle’s loss to Melbourne Victory on Friday, lifts Graham Arnold’s team eight points clear atop the A-League table. If the Sky Blues beat the Jets at home on Wednesday night, the lead will extend to 11 points at the season’s halfway mark.
Lowe’s counterpart Arnold, who was angry at the shortcomings of last week’s 4-1 away win to Wellington, was finally content but not the least bit surprised by the scope of the victory.
“Not being arrogant or anything, but I challenged the boys this week,” Arnold said.
“I wrote on the board, ‘6-0’, and all through the week at training I kept saying to them: ‘We will win 6-0. It’s time.’ ”
IN THE LAST THREE GAMES THEY’VE SCORED FOUR, THREE AND FIVE BUT THEY WEREN’T AWFULLY IMPRESSIVE, YET THEY WON THE GAMES COMFORTABLY. KENNY LOWE