The chance to take a near-insurmountable lead at the top of the table slipped away from Sydney FC when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by the Central Coast Mariners on Saturday night.
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The Sky Blues had the opportunity to make the A-League premiership a one-horse race and open a nine-point lead at the top of the standings after an earlier surprise loss for second-placed Newcastle Jets at home to Wellington Phoenix, but an uninspiring performance against the Mariners kept the regular season alive.
A second-half strike from Brazilian striker Bobo salvaged a point for Sydney FC, whose less than sterling performance was heavily impacted by a stomach virus that swept through the team during the week. While acknowledging they were far from their best, coach Graham Arnold was pleased with the work rate of several players who had been struck by the virus.
"We had a bug go through the team, gastro," he said. "[Brandon] O'Neill, [Milos] Ninkovic, [Alex] Brosque, [Luke] Wilkshire and [MIchael] Zullo just got over it. Josh Brillante is getting over it, Jordy Buijs is getting over it."
Whether it was the result of that illness or pressure by the energetic Mariners, Sydney's normally watertight backline began committing errors early in the match.
A sloppy back pass in the seventh minute from Josh Brillante left his goalkeeper, Andrew Redmayne, stranded and a poorly timed clearance from Sydney's No.1 brought Mariners winger Kwabena Appiah-Kubi down inside the box, giving referee Daniel Elder no choice but to award the visitors a penalty. Former Sydney FC player Blake Powell assumed the responsibility and sent Redmayne the other way to provide the Mariners the lead.
Milos Ninkovic looked the most likely to draw the scores level in the first half. The Serbian midfielder's side-foot shot in the 15th minute tested Ben Kennedy while a shot from the edge of the area on the half-hour mark was deflected narrowly over the crossbar. For the most part, Sydney struggled to find a way through the Mariners deep defence, which at times would collapse to a wall of as many as seven yellow shirts.
When they finally found a way through, it was an illegal breach. Bobo's celebrations for a header into the corner of the net were cut short when a linesman noticed he had strayed offside. While Sydney were cursing their luck, they were counting their blessings on the stroke of half-time when Central Coast's Lachlan Wales missed a sitter in front of an empty net.
The tongue-lashing delivered by coach Graham Arnold at the break drew an immediate response from the Sky Blues, who unleashed a flurry of raids on the Mariners goal after the restart. Mostly though, they returned with more poise and purpose.
On the stroke of the hour mark, that finally patience paid off. Two moments of class from Sydney's foreign stars eroded the Mariners' defensive well when Adrian Mierzejewski combined with Bobo. The Polish international split Central Coast's defence with a delicate cross into the box to find the run of the Brazilian, who guided a header into the corner of the net, leaving Kennedy flat on his rear.
A wave of relief swept across Allianz Stadium after Bobo's historic strike - his 16th of the season equalled the club record set by Marc Janko in 2015. They couldn't go on and find the winner and were forced to see their lead grow to seven points, with one match against the Jets still remaining this season.
For the Mariners, coach Paul Okon was aggrieved not to have claimed all three points against Sydney FC for the second time this season.
"We made a point all week of showing responsibility and playing through the press. We knew that once we could do that we've got some weapons up the top. If Lachy's [Wales] goal goes in before half-time, that could have potentially seen us through with three points," he said.
