Klimala double shows value of reliable finisher in Sydney FC’s ACL Two victory

The sole scorer in Sydney FC’s 2-0 win over Jeonbuk Motors in the first leg of their ACL Two quarter final, Patrik Klimala proves the priceless nature of a clinical striker who can convert good team play into marks on the scoresheet.

The old school responsibility of a striker was rather simple, score goals. As football as evolved, the role of a #9 has become more complex.

You may be expected to drop deep into midfield, hold the ball up and distribute into wide areas. Maybe you need to drift slightly to one side, to allow a late run from a midfielder into the opposite channel. And increasingly so, you’re expected to run as hard as anyone in the first line of defence.

All these instructions have merit, but as Klimala showed on Thursday night, none of that is quite as important as an innate ability to find the back of the net.

Klimala has proven to be the striker that when in good positions, often just puts the ball away. It sounds so simple on the face of it, but Ufuk Talay could easily be on the plane home to Australia with his head in his hands, thinking ‘if only we just put those chances away’.

How many examples in recent Australian football history can you think of where a coach is talking post-match about possession numbers and chances created, with a zero in their column on the scoreboard?

In the most obvious statement of all time: goals win games of football, and Klimala is scoring a lot of very timely goals for the Sky Blues.

Credit should go to the Sydney FC management and recruitment staff here. They’ve clearly taken the challenge of the AFC Champions League Two very seriously and their off-season recruitment of Klimala, alongside other quality pieces like Douglas Costa and Leo Sena, was a real show of intent.

Their investment was rewarded in possibly the greatest win of the Sky Blues’ Asian history.

They still have to back it up next Thursday of course, but Talay says he was very happy with the first leg effort.

“From the moment’s we created, I think we capitalised on a very good moment, Patrik probably could have had a second in the first half as well,” he said.

“Overall I thought, playing against a good side, I thought we were good with the ball and at times very good defensively as well.

“Not an easy game to play against a good side like Jeonbuk away from home, so to come away 2-0, very pleased with the performance of the players.

“The way that we work and the way that we train and the players that we have will definitely not be complacent because we still know that Jeonbuk are a very good side.”

Sydney FC have a bye in the A-League this weekend, before taking on Jeonbuk in the return leg at Sydney Football Stadium on Thursday night.

Listen to more conversation on the Sky Blues’ win in the latest episode of the Round Ball Australia podcast.