Alex Brosque winner banks points against Newcastle Jets

A second-half strike from Alex Brosque has spared Sydney FC’s blushes, the skipper leading his side to a 1-0 win against Newcastle on Friday night.

In a one-sided affair at Allianz Stadium the Sky Blues were guilty of spurning a glut of chances with marquee striker Filip Holosko the main offender, missing four gilt-edged opportunities in the first-half.

However Brosque came to the rescue, with his winner Sydney’s first goal in three matches, which sees them go joint top of the table alongside Victory and the Wanderers on 16 points for at least 24-hours.

Coach Graham Arnold handed a first start to Olyroo Andrew Hoole, who put in a strong shift against his former club, in an otherwise unchanged line-up from last week.

Striker Milos Trifunovic was back for the Jets but skipper Nigel Boogaard failed to recover from his ankle injury, while Ryan Kitto was handed his first start for Newcastle.

GOALS

1-0 Alex Brosque (57’) The Sky Blues finally opened the scoring just shy of the hour mark when a defence splitting pass from Milos Ninkovic on the left wing set their captain through on goal. Brosque held his nerve with just Birighitti to beat, lashing a left-footed effort inside the far post to register his 50^th Hyundai A-League goal.

TEAMS

Sydney FC: Janjetovic (gk), Ryall, Gersbach, Grant, Jurman, Hoole (Blackwood 72’), Tavares, Ninkovic (Faty 86'), Dimitrijevic, Holosko, Brosque (c), (Smeltz 86’)

Newcastle Jets: Birighitti (gk), Hoffman, Ki-je, Jackson (Crowley 72’), Kantarovski, Poljak (c), Watson (Cowburn 65’), Kitto (Pavicevic 82'), Alivodic, Carney, Trifunovic

3:26 AM