Young talent time ... Young Socceroo Dimitri Petratos ran onto a great through ball to score Sydney FC's opening goal against the Gold Coast. Photo: Getty Images
DIMITRI Petratos was playing youth league at the start of the season. Last night the 18-year-old produced perhaps Sydney FC's best goal of their campaign to lead the beleaguered side to a morale-boosting win over Gold Coast United.
It was Sydney's first consecutive win of the season, following their 2-1 triumph over Newcastle last Monday and, while nothing can make up for what has been an awful few months for the champions, last night's performance was a bright spark worth celebrating.
Sydney took the lead on 32 minutes when skilled left midfielder Hirofumi Moriyasu put Young Socceroo Petratos into space on the left wing. Petratos was tracked but blasted the ball into the top right corner of Glen Moss's goal.
None of Petratos's skill surprised coach Vitezslav Lavicka. ''Full credit for him, not only for tonight,'' the coach said. ''He scored a spectacular goal and had a good performance.
''But we know him from last season. He played in the youth team and sometimes trained with us.
''This season he improved much, so we gave him a chance to play first grade and he took his chance.''
However, the game finished in bizarre circumstances. A goal in injury time by recently signed Finnish striker Juho Makela nearly turned sour when Matt Jurman was hurt in the celebration.
The players ran towards 'The Cove' after Makela slid the ball past Moss, and the crowd ran to the players. An advertising hoarding fell, trapping Jurman's leg. He returned to the field a minute later after receiving medical attention.
The win was just reward for Sydney's solid first half and enthusiastic second half against a defence that had conceded just 18 goals this season, the league's best record.
That Jason Culina was missing for the visitors was little excuse, as Sydney were missing their own marshalls through the centre, Alex Brosque, Mark Bridge and Hayden Foxe.
But Gold Coast's task became even harder when Steve Fitzsimmons was sent off for a nasty tackle from behind on Moriyasu in the 64th minute.
By that stage, Sydney's ascendancy was becoming clearer, though threatening counter-attacking raids by the desperate visitors kept them on edge.
In the 74th minute Moriyasu received a standing ovation from the 6135-strong crowd as he was replaced by Makela. Petratos received a similar reception when he was replaced in the 83rd minute.
Sydney had several golden chances to finish in style before Makela finally broke through, but Nicky Carle shot wide after good lead-up work and Makela missed a header from in front after similarly fine construction.
Replacement Shannon Cole belted a shot in the dying minutes that nearly fooled Moss.
Sydney FC led 1-0 at the break but it was Gold Coast who started better.
An unmarked Bruce Djite mis-timed a strike on eight minutes.
Neat interplay between Djite and Robson up front created space for Zenon Caravella to score but he too shot wide.
Bruno Cazarine cut an imposing figure at the front for Sydney FC, but the home side was forced to shoot from range. In the 19th minute a busy Carle unloaded a stinger from 25 metres but Moss was good enough. A failed clearance by Traore allowed Moriyasu a shot that was again parried by Moss.
By the latter stages of the half, it was Gold Coast shooting from range, as Sydney's defence got its act together. The result was emphatically driven home by Petratos's stunning opener after a resurgent period by the Sky Blues.
Gold Coast had more than twice as many shots on goal in the first 45 minutes as Sydney but none were on target. Instead, it was Sydney that made the most of its opportunities.
''Everyone knows this season is different to the last one,'' Lavicka said. ''But I have to say that everyone worked hard and deserved some good results. If there is a mathematical chance for us to play in the finals, we will be fighting for it.''
SYDNEY FC 2 (Dimitri Petratos 32m, Juho Makela 90+2m) bt GOLD COAST UNITED 0 at Sydney Football Stadium. Crowd: 6,135. Referee: Chris Beath
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