Round Recap – Week 1
The 2015/16 season is off and running, and it was a weekend of stalemates and upsets.
Newcastle rounded out the weekend by shocking the Phoenix 2-1 at the Cake Tin, after the Mariners got one over the Glory on Saturday afternoon.
On the road, John Aloisi’s Brisbane Roar claimed a well-earned victory at Wanderland, and Adelaide, both Melbourne sides and Sydney FC had to settle for a share of the points on the opening weekend.
Goal of the week
There weren’t many stunning goals in the opening weekend, but our Goal of the Week for round 1 — for the amount of skill and timing required to achieve it — goes to Perth captain Richard Garcia. On first glance, he might’ve been better to try and side foot the ball in, but the technique he showed to place a bullet header past Liam Reddy means he takes the cake this week:
Moment of the week
It was definitely the main talking point to come out of Friday’s marquee Adelaide vs Victory fixture — the sending off of Leigh Broxham. In over 180 A-League games, the stand-in Victory skipper had yet to be given his marching orders, but Peter Green did just that on Friday. On second glance, Broxham might have reason to feel aggrieved that his run of ‘good’ behaviour was brought to a grinding halt…
Player of the Season
It’s only round 1, so all our 3 and 2 vote getters from the opening 5 games make up our top 10 after round 1. So, congratulations to those players whose names starts with letters at the start of the alphabet, I guess…
Thursday: Western Sydney Wanderers 1-3 Brisbane Roar
Brisbane Roar got their 2015/16 campaign off to the right start on Thursday night, defeating the Wanderers 3-1 in front of over 14,000 fans in Parramatta for the A-League season opener.
Tony Popovic’s side had undergone an almost complete transformation from last season, meaning the Wanderers came into the game with many questions marks hanging over them.
Friday: Adelaide United 0-0 Melbourne Victory
In front of just over 19,000 fans at the Adelaide Oval, Melbourne Victory’s title defence has begun with a lacklustre 0-0 draw against Adelaide United.
Victory, who were without their influential captain Carl Valeri, due to a knock he received earlier in the week, started the better of the two sides in the first half.
Saturday: Central Coast Mariners 3-2 Perth Glory
The Central Coast Mariners outplayed the Perth Glory to walk away with a convincing 3-2 win in their first game of the season.
The season opener for the Mariners and Glory was not a game that left A-League fans disappointed, as the Glory travelled east to take on the Mariners at Central Coast Stadium.
Saturday: Sydney FC 1-1 Melbourne City
Melbourne City managed to escape Allianz Stadium with a point tonight after holding off a star-studded Sydney FC line-up to a 1-1 scoreline.
Sydney FC entered the game as favourites with City missing a number of key players. The Sky Blues gave starting debuts to their new major recruits Filip Holosko and Milos Ninkovic, whereas City’s line-up featured former Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli.
Sunday: Wellington Phoenix 1-2 Newcastle Jets
A ten man Newcastle Jets defeated the Wellington Phoenix 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Westpac Stadium.
Overcoming a poor record in New Zealand, veteran David Carney opened the scoring for the Jets at the 30 minute mark with his first goal for the club, while new signing Milos Trifunovic scored the sealer in his debut game for the club in the second half.
About the author
Justin is a passionate football fan, and the Editor-in-chief of Ultimate A-League. Follow @justintickner
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