Western Sydney were left wondering what could have been after mounting an impressive second half comeback to claim a 1-1 draw against Sydney FC that may well have been a victory and a third successive win in the derby if they had a full house cheering them on to the end.
Sydney were fortunate to escape with a point but remain comfortably on track to claim the premiership. However, if there is a blemishon their season, it is that they failed to win any of their three games against the Wanderers and, despite losing the two previous derbies, this was the most forgettable as far as performances go.
They made no secret of their frustration, and the empty Bankwest Stadium – closed to all spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic – reverberated to their curses at full-time.
"I think we just got sloppy in the second half. We gave the ball away too easily, we just made the wrong decisions at the wrong times," Sydney FC coach Steve Corica said.
One of the great selling points of the new stadium was its acoustics. Designed with the fans in mind, on Saturday it meant every kick, every call, every thud of the player hitting the turf and even every call from softly spoken Corica echoed around the stadium.
Already eerie, the sounds of the passing traffic on O'Connell Street made the setting all the more surreal. Even more strange to the global audience watching one of the only games of football happening on earth was that it was actually going ahead.
While atmospherically it may have looked like a training session, the players put on a show for what could well be a record audience for the derby. Foreign viewers got a glimpse of trademark Sydney FC in the first half: fluid in motion, clever going forward and composed in possession.
In the second stanza, they saw the best of the Wanderers this season: dogged, disciplined and aggressive.
"I thought in the second half we had the control of the game and they were there for the taking," Wanderers coach Jean-Paul de Marigny said. "Just a little bit more quality in the last key parts with crosses could have hurt them."
Sydney FC patiently waited for their moments to pry open the Wanderers defence and in the 20th minute, Kosta Barbarouses did just that A slide-rule pass split Western Sydney's backline to put Adam Le Fondre in front of goal with the luxury of space and time, but a delayed finish thwarted what should have been a goal.
The Englishman didn't have to wait long to make amends when gifted an even better chance by his strike partner. A clever build-up ended with Barbarouses inside the box and the New Zealander's shot was palmed away by Wanderers goalkeeper Daniel Lopar but only so far as the oncoming Le Fondre. From point blank range, Sydney's leading scorer wasn't about to miss again.
It took the Wanderers until after half-time to regather but the hosts emerged from the break with more intent. Five minutes after the restart, they were almost level through fullback Tate Russell, whose side-foot shot shaved the outside of the post.
Sydney's comfort in defence quickly turned into complacency, and haphazard defending along with a major slice of luck for the Wanderers turned the match on its head. A skewed shot from Simon Cox struck teammate Kwame Yeboah and ricocheted into the top corner of the net to draw level and salvage a point.
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