Summary: The Melbourne Knights will be progressing to the FFA Cup round of 32 after defeating South Melbourne 4-2 at Somers street on Wednesday evening. While South tried staging comebacks at multiple points, a combination of attacking insight and defensive blunders allowed the Knights to run away with the game.
For some reason, this match, and only this match (since I’ve been writing these match reports) has left me feeling, as the title of this site suggests, “sour”. There’s a sort of detached sadness that comes with being outplayed, particularly in games that hold actual significance i.e. returning to the national stage of Australian football. However, to lose in a way that exposes elementary flaws in your side cannot help but bring with it an air of frustration, and even entitlement. When you’re on a winning streak for so long, even when supporting an unstable team, you can’t help but expect to win when you’re playing well. However, the performance we put up on Wednesday night was the embodiment of polarity; a super aggressive and somewhat successful attacking half mixed with a completely fractured defence.
From the beginning of the match the Knights had control over the midfield (even when that control meant allowing us time on the ball), trying to mitigate the impact of Sylaidos and Schroen for as long as possible. For it was Sylaidos who would bring the ball up for the first chance of the night, sending a through-ball to an unmarked Marafioti in the box, who sends it just wide. Without a fluid midfield, however, we quickly reverted back to long balls, which were easily soaked up the the Knight’s defence. When you look back at all the goals we conceded, it’s easy to spot the one South error that played a significant role in it. In the 8th minute, after another unsuccessful South push, the ball is half-heartedly cleared into the middle of the pitch. Watching the ball drift over him, Schroen misses the ball and loses his feet in the process, opening up the entire midfield for a counter. After bringing the ball up the centre, Anthony Duzel distributes the ball on the wing, were Hamish Watson was able to weave a shot in-between two South defenders, catching Roganovic at his near post.
While Watson’s shot was clinical, the lack of insight displayed by South defenders led to a frustrating experience on more than one occasion. In the 18th minute, a Knight’s throw in was able to bobble into the box, be held up by Watson until passed on to an unmarked Mohamed Awad, whose thunderous strike was palmed away by Roganovic. As they continued to suppress our midfield, preventing any plays from being built, we relied heavily on counter attacks and set pieces in order to make any attacking progress. Billy Konstantinidis was non-existent for the first chunk of the match, his only contribution being a cross that went well over the goals. Despite their control, however, the game was very much touch-and-go. In the 27th minute, South were awarded a free kick, and a good delivery from Schroen sees Kristian Konstantinidis launch over Yurkovich and head the ball into the post, which deflects in.
Celebrations were cut short, as South were caught sleeping thirty seconds after levelling. The knights were given too much space on the wing (something that didn’t seem possible considering its width), and after waiting for options, a ball played to an unmarked Watson only requires a tap in to pass Roganovic. We tried to recreate our free kick again, but an extra defender on KK snuffs out that strategy pretty quickly. From there, the Knight’s game-plan was quite simple; allow South on the ball as much as possible, while pressuring them into handing the ball over. While our attacking half was arguably the stronger of the two, but by closing off Sylaidos and Schroen, all that needs to be done is let the defence simmer. And another defensive error, Djiba colliding into a Knights attacker, unable to win either the ball or a foul, leaves the Knights surging forward with 3 attackers, though luckily scuffing the shot. Subbing on Lambropoulos for Stratomitros also seemed an unwise decision, but couldn’t be helped due to injury.
At half time, it was clear our defending had negated the work of our attack, and if we were to come back, we would have to finish more chances than we were giving away. After having a non-existent first half, Billy Konstantinidis was brought into the game through a Syaliados through ball into the 6-yard box. Unfortunately, the ball was lined up for Marafioti, and Billy’s shot is too central. Once again, however, the audience witnessed Watson turn the South defenders inside out, before peppering various shots around the goal for a good portion of the half. As if sympathetic of his efforts, we decided we would make it easier for him. As Marshall shepherds a ball travelling to Roganovic in the 70th minute, there isn’t enough pace on it to reach the keeper quick enough. By the time the two meet, a Knights player shoves the two into each other, causing a collision (and arguably a foul), leaving an unguarded net for Watson to complete his hat trick. This type of defensive error isn’t new to our current squad, but I would have assumed such a basic blunder would be scratched out by general communication. It was the type of goal that you aren’t really sure you can celebrate (though Watson found a way).
As the match progressed, and the Knights spent less time on the ball, our attacking half tried to mitigate the defensive errors. Subbing on Nick Krousoratis and Leigh Minopoulos (for his 150th match) aimed to add more pace in our attack, but the narrow wings hindered their runs. We were making more use of our opportunities though, and in having the ball in our attacking half more often, at least the ball wasn’t in the defensive half. In the 75th minute, Sylaidos was, once again, able to whip in a cross, which met a diving Billy at the back post. He was able to bring the score back to 3-2, but seemed to have injured his shoulder in the process. But it only took 3 minutes for the Knights to reply, catching us asleep once again. A cross is sent to an uncontested header, and Ivan Grgic’s effort is essentially unsaveable. We have a few more efforts, most notably a Bradley Norton volley that hits the post, and a Marafioti shot on the cusp of full time, which brought out an excellent save from Jordan Gifkins, and in doing so buried our chances of coming back.
In one sense, we were outplayed by the Knights. Their defence was satisfactory in keeping us out, at least until we made some defensive errors first, and at times they had complete control over the midfield. On the other hand, the lack of structure in our defence, and the insight required to prevent silly turnovers was lacking, something we had arguably refined over the last few games. I hope that the inclusion of our new signings (who were all cup-tied) will bring with it some more stability in our side, particularly now, when our only focus is on the league.
Notable players: Gerrie Sylaidos
South Melbourne FC: 2
Melbourne Knights FC: 4