Joe Lolley’s irresistible form is showing no signs of slowing down as the English import helped fire Sydney FC back into the A-League Men top six with a 4-1 win over Adelaide.
Lolley scored Sydney’s opener at Allianz Stadium on Saturday before setting up teammate Patryck Klimala in the second half.
Adrian Segecic and Anthony Caceres put the game beyond doubt for Sydney in the final 15 minutes.
The Sky Blues moved up to fourth while second-placed Adelaide have been left five points adrift of league-leaders Auckland.
The catalyst for Segecic’s goal was a cross from Lolley and the 32-year-old winger, who leads the golden boot race with nine goals for the season and five assists, appears the standout contender for the Johnny Warren Medal.
Sydney did not have it all their own way and were it not for goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Mears producing some impressive first-half saves to prevent Stefan Mauk and Archie Goodwin, Adelaide ought to have had an early lead.
From Goodwin’s effort, Sydney charged upfield through Caceres and after some neat interplay, Klimala backheeled for Lolley to tuck in past Ethan Cox from close range in the 36th minute.
Lolley returned the favour barely 30 seconds into the second half as the English winger caught Adelaide napping and whipped in a low cross for Polish striker Klimala to finish.
Adelaide’s response came when Dylan Pierias snuck a low shot past Devenish-Mears at his near post in the 49th minute but they failed to take their chances as they hunted for an equaliser.
Sydney did and they did so through Segecic, who scored shortly after coming onto the field in the second half.
Segecic was lurking on the edge of the Adelaide box when the Reds failed to deal with a Lolley cross and the 20-year-old made it three.
By then Adelaide’s heads had dropped and Caceres ran through the heart of their defence to add to Sydney’s tally.
With the result wrapped up Ufuk Talay threw Douglas Costa into the fray for his first minutes since picking up a hamstring injury in December ahead of next week’s Sydney derby.
Meanwhile, Sydney on Saturday announced the capture of centre back Alex Grant on a deal until the end of the season.
Grant, a 31-year-old who was previously with Perth Glory, has spent the last year in the Chinese Super League.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/lolley-hits-sweet-spot-as-sydney-slice-adelaide-apart-c-17581198
