2025-04-30, 11:13 AM - Word count:
Matchday 5 in the academy saw Sydney City taking on Stockholm I.K. Sydney City is one of two winless teams remaining in the Academy. Although they have had decent showings, they have been unable to keep any lead going into the later part of the games. They enter the match with a 0-2-2 record, having lost their most recent match, which puts them at the bottom of the table with 2 points. On the other half of the pitch, Stockholm I.K. enters the match with a 2-1-1 record. Good enough for second in the standings with 7 points. A S.I.K win today with further the gap between the top two and bottom two teams in the league.
Off the kickoff, S.I.K controlled the ball in their own half. Sydney was content sitting back while S.I.K padded their passing stats. In the second minute, S.I.K managed to push through to the enter the Sydney box before being turned away. A sloppy giveaway during an unimpressive push forward followed by some impressive passing by Sydney saw a crossed ball enter the back of S.I.K’s net to give Sydney City a 1-0 lead, early in the game. An easy tap in by Brodie James. Sydney continued putting pressure on the backline of S.I.K., causing turnovers within their own half. Two promising corners led to nothing as the S.I.K defense was eventually able to push Sydney back towards half, eliminating the immediate threat. That relief didn’t last long though as Sydney continued attacking. Their strategy appeared to be bringing the ball up the outsides and crossing it in. Just over 10 minutes after their first goal, Sydney’s pressure led to a mistake as S.I.K’s Christof Schweinsteiger put the ball into their own net giving Sydney a 2-0 lead. Sydney’s counters continued as a brilliant pass leading to a beautiful goal from just inside the eighteen yard box by Peruere Snezhevna gave Sydney a 3-0 lead after 16 minutes of play. Things calmed down a bit from there as the S.I.K team struggled to gain any traction but kept the Sydney goalscorers off the scoreboard. Rain started to come down during stoppage time right before Brodie James got his second of the match in tight amongst the defence. James was running left but put the ball perfectly to the right post giving Sydney a 4-0 lead going into halftime. Sydney was looking strong, but they have been known to fall apart in the second half. This game looked different though, as Sydney had dominated the first half. S.I.K didn’t even have a quality chance.
The second half began as a more evenly matched game. S.I.K saw their first solid opportunity when a great cross was headed towards goal by Sonji. Sydney’s goalkeeper, Lax, was there to make the save, putting the ball out for a corner. S.I.K took advantage as a perfectly placed header off the corner put the ball just inside the near post. Ghassan Kanafani put their team on the board, making the game 4-1. Solid pressure from Sydney, immediately after the goal against, saw a few chances but none of them were good enough to give a countering goal. It wasn’t until the 71 minute when we saw some life in the game as S.I.K. had some stellar passing before a shot on goal, which was punched over the bar, relatively easily by Lax. S.I.K scored on the ensuing corner in an almost identical goal to their first. A save in which Lax should have made. Leah Slothnson gave their team a bit of life as they were down 2 with twenty minutes left. Nine minutes later, a cross from nearly the corner flag was sent to the back post where S.I.K Adebo de Los Santos was waiting and easily put the ball into the net. With ten minutes left, S.I.K was within one. The momentum didn’t hold though as Sydney countered quickly as Samson Okoro, with a sensational individual effort scored to put Sydney’s lead back to two. Relentless pressure in extra time saw Sydney put one off the crossbar before the final whistle.
The win moved Sydney City into 3rd place and closed the gap between themselves and S.I.K to two points. In the other match, Athletico beat Victoria Falls 5-3 to further themselves from the pack.
Off the kickoff, S.I.K controlled the ball in their own half. Sydney was content sitting back while S.I.K padded their passing stats. In the second minute, S.I.K managed to push through to the enter the Sydney box before being turned away. A sloppy giveaway during an unimpressive push forward followed by some impressive passing by Sydney saw a crossed ball enter the back of S.I.K’s net to give Sydney City a 1-0 lead, early in the game. An easy tap in by Brodie James. Sydney continued putting pressure on the backline of S.I.K., causing turnovers within their own half. Two promising corners led to nothing as the S.I.K defense was eventually able to push Sydney back towards half, eliminating the immediate threat. That relief didn’t last long though as Sydney continued attacking. Their strategy appeared to be bringing the ball up the outsides and crossing it in. Just over 10 minutes after their first goal, Sydney’s pressure led to a mistake as S.I.K’s Christof Schweinsteiger put the ball into their own net giving Sydney a 2-0 lead. Sydney’s counters continued as a brilliant pass leading to a beautiful goal from just inside the eighteen yard box by Peruere Snezhevna gave Sydney a 3-0 lead after 16 minutes of play. Things calmed down a bit from there as the S.I.K team struggled to gain any traction but kept the Sydney goalscorers off the scoreboard. Rain started to come down during stoppage time right before Brodie James got his second of the match in tight amongst the defence. James was running left but put the ball perfectly to the right post giving Sydney a 4-0 lead going into halftime. Sydney was looking strong, but they have been known to fall apart in the second half. This game looked different though, as Sydney had dominated the first half. S.I.K didn’t even have a quality chance.
The second half began as a more evenly matched game. S.I.K saw their first solid opportunity when a great cross was headed towards goal by Sonji. Sydney’s goalkeeper, Lax, was there to make the save, putting the ball out for a corner. S.I.K took advantage as a perfectly placed header off the corner put the ball just inside the near post. Ghassan Kanafani put their team on the board, making the game 4-1. Solid pressure from Sydney, immediately after the goal against, saw a few chances but none of them were good enough to give a countering goal. It wasn’t until the 71 minute when we saw some life in the game as S.I.K. had some stellar passing before a shot on goal, which was punched over the bar, relatively easily by Lax. S.I.K scored on the ensuing corner in an almost identical goal to their first. A save in which Lax should have made. Leah Slothnson gave their team a bit of life as they were down 2 with twenty minutes left. Nine minutes later, a cross from nearly the corner flag was sent to the back post where S.I.K Adebo de Los Santos was waiting and easily put the ball into the net. With ten minutes left, S.I.K was within one. The momentum didn’t hold though as Sydney countered quickly as Samson Okoro, with a sensational individual effort scored to put Sydney’s lead back to two. Relentless pressure in extra time saw Sydney put one off the crossbar before the final whistle.
The win moved Sydney City into 3rd place and closed the gap between themselves and S.I.K to two points. In the other match, Athletico beat Victoria Falls 5-3 to further themselves from the pack.
![[Image: Snor-Lax-Rova-20250905075714-2.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/50PHFkYR/Snor-Lax-Rova-20250905075714-2.jpg)
