Sydney FC are through to the semi-finals of the 2026 Australia Cup after a nail-biting 1-0 win over NPL NSW 2 side SD Raiders at Fairfield Showground.
The A-Leagues side had two good chances to take the lead early on but both Takahiro Sekine and Mathias Macallister were denied by some excellent last ditch defending from the Raiders.
The Sky Blues bagged the only goal of the game in the 33rd minute when midfielder Joe Lacey’s pinpoint ball over the defence picked out the run of Sekine and the Japanese forward did the rest, rifling the ball beyond the keeper to make it 1-0.
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Despite the perceived gulf in class between the two sides Raiders pushed their Isuzu UTE A-Leagues opponents hard on the night and would have found the equaliser were it not for two excellent saves from Sydney FC goalkeeper Gus Hoefsloot.
The first saw the 20-year-old fly to his right to parry away Martin Fernandez’s side-footed effort from inside the box before the keeper then tipped a sublime Fernandez freekick over the bar in the 81st minute to ensure the Sky Blues sealed the victory.
Patrick Kisnorbo’s side will now face the winner of the clash between NPL NSW side APIA Leichhardt and Isuzu UTE A-League rivals Melbourne Victory, who meet at Leichhardt Oval on Wednesday evening.
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Speaking after the game, Kisnorbo said: “Obviously it’s good that we got through but I think there’s areas to improve.
“I think we missed a lot of chances today. Second half we dropped off, which isn’t good enough, and things like this can punish you.
“So, you know, it’s a lot of learning to do. But you know, (it’s) great to get to the semi-final but we need to do way more, especially heading to the semi-final and and for the start of the season.
He went on to say: “We’ve got to be more clinical. It’s an area that we need to improve on, but also great that we had a clean sheet.
“So great for the the boys and the defence, and obviously the goalkeeper Gus. But we can always improve and get better.”
