Alright FFA, you can stop drawing us against the Wanderers after this.
With City and the Wanderers set to battle it out in the FFA Cup Quarter-Finals for the third time in four years, we’ve decided to take a look at some of the best and worst matches we can remember against ‘the other Sydney team’.
The Worst: Wanderers 1-0 Heart, Round 18 2012/13
A shocking way to lose a match, but we managed it nonetheless.
The Wanderers had defender Jérome Polenz sent off in the 13th minute, yet you could’ve sworn it was Heart who were playing with a man down the entire game.
The stats were maddening, with WSW recording 13 shots on target to Heart’s 8, 12 corners to 1 and forcing 12 saves compared to 6.
Despite all of their dominance, regardless of the fact they were a man down, it wasn’t until Shinji Ono’s 73rd minute penalty that the Wanderers finally put the ball in the back of the net, capping off a frustrating night for Heart.
The loss saw the club fall out of the top 6, and things went downhill from there, with Heart ultimately finishing up in 9th.
The Best: City 4-1 Wanderers, FFA Cup Quarter Finals 2016
This win put us well on our way to winning our first piece of silverware in club history, and was the first time City had faced Wanderers in the Cup; a fixture that now seems traditional.
Michael Jakobsen scored that ridiculous overhead kick on his first competitive start for City, Bruno Fornaroli unsurprisingly got his name on the scoresheet and there were also debut goals for Fernando Brandán and Tim Cahill.
We, of course, went on to draw Victory in the Semis and silenced that lot with a 2-0 win, before coming up against Sydney in the Cup final. You already know how that one went.
The Worst: Heart 2-3 Wanderers, Round 27 2013/14
Stuck at the foot of the table in the final round and playing 2nd place Wanderers, we’re destined to finish bottom.
But alas! We find ourselves drawn 1-1 with Western Sydney at half time, and the ninth-placed Nix are within reach if we can just get the three points!
The Wanderers are awarded a penalty in the 70th, and Shinji Ono stands over the ball. We’re done for…
But what’s this?
The penalty’s been missed! Heart have taken the ball and scored within two minutes! We’re 2-1 up and are about to avoid finishing bottom!
… ’81 – Bridges WSW
… ’86 – Hersi WSW
…Oh dear...
The Best: City 3-0 Wanderers, Round 24 2017/18
An important result at an equally important stage of the season which helped us to our best finish in club history.
Daniel Arzani and Bruno Fornaroli were running riot all game, and City were genuinely unlucky not to finish with a couple more on the board.
Goals to ‘El Tuna’, Michael Jakobsen and Stefan Mauk helped the club earn a fairly comfortable win over the visitors, but the result was essential as it sparked a winning run which ensured we’d fend off Victory to earn that precious Asian Champions League-playoff spot…
Of course, they just HAD to go and have a say in that didn’t they?
The Worst: Wanderers 3-0 City, Round 23 2018/19
From one 3-0 to another, this more recent result was incredibly frustrating, yet somewhat symbolic of not only the season that had been, but also of the identity that was starting to develop at the club.
In the weeks beforehand, we’d fought hard to earn tough draws against Victory and Perth, before pulling out an unbelievable 2-0 win over Sydney. The loss was simply just too difficult to process in that context. How could we match it with the best for three straight weeks and then throw it all away against 8th-place Wanderers?
A brace to Oriel Riera and one goal to Mitch Duke.
Sure, we went on to belt Brisbane 4-1 the next week, but this was a result that made it very apparent that we would only be making up the numbers come finals-time.
The (and I mean THE) Best: City 4-3 Wanderers, Round 15 2018/19
Absolute madness, this game was.
Just 30 seconds in, the Wanderers are already having calamitous defensive errors, and Ritchie De Laet’s able to slot one into the back of an open net. Great start. We love it.
What we don’t love, however, is a cheap penalty for the opposition, which was exactly the case in the 28th minute when Jaushua Sotirio was seemingly blown over by the wind in our defensive area.
Bonevacia buries it, and it’s a goal apiece… until about ten minutes later when Luke Brattan picks up the ball well outside the box, nutmegs former-teammate Nick Fitzgerald and launches a rocket into the top corner. Cop that one, Fitzy.
Of course, the opposition would equalise just three minutes after the half-time break, with Wanderers youngster Tass Mourdoukoutas nodding the ball in at close-range, before Sotirio nabbed the lead five minutes later with an outside-the-box curler.
Fast forward to the final ten minutes and we’re in desperate need of a goal. Enter, Ritchie De Laet.
The Belgian receives the ball at the edge of the box, makes space for the shot and rifles it into the bottom corner. Parity restored.
The stalemated match enters a lengthy stoppage time period, and with just a minute on the clock, Scott Jamieson places the ball on the ground, steps back, and launches his corner into the City box…
“SCHENKEVELLLLLLLLLLLD!!!”
Scenes.
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