Christian Montegan 
Western Sydney Wanderers captain Brandon Borrello in action during the Sydney Derby in Round 1 of the 2024/25 A-League Men season. Photo: Joshua Davis
A sold-out CommBank stadium was not enough to snap the Wanderers’ winless derby run, falling short against a quality Sydney FC outfit.
The 2014 Asian Champions lost their third consecutive clash against their city rivals, giving new manager Alen Stajcic a less-than-ideal start to his tenure, as he admitted post-game that the Sky Blues were more polished.
“We’re disappointed and gutted at the result, but I think both teams showed promising signs of being really top teams in the league this year,” Stajcic said.
“Maybe Sydney just had a touch more cutting edge at different moments, but I don’t think there was much in the game. They just produced that moment of quality when they needed it.”
Star attraction Douglas Costa featured from the start for Sydney, while World Cup and Champions League winner Juan Mata watched from the Wanderers bench for the first hour.
The 35-year-old Spaniard had not made a competitive appearance since a 10-minute cameo for Japan’s Vissel Kobe in September last year.
Although the Wanderers conceded less than a minute after Mata entered the pitch, the former Chelsea and Manchester United midfielder looked lively and provided a creative spark.
“We knew it was gonna be a high tempo, especially at the beginning of the game, and two [highly] energetic teams on top of that,” Stajcic said when asked about his decision to bench Mata.
“I just didn’t want to waste his energy in the first 15 minutes, half an hour when I knew the game would be at its highest tempo.
“He came in with a decent base, but it’s gonna take him some time to get used to playing regular match minutes again.”
A red card for Sydney’s Max Burgess for a dangerous challenge on Ben Holliday in the 87th minute gave the Wanderers over 10 minutes to snatch an equaliser.
When asked if he was disappointed not to have made more of the advantage with clear goalscoring opportunities, Stajcic disagreed.
“I thought we did actually [have good chances after the red card],” he said.
“[Milanovic’s] header and [Antonsson’s] header that went over the bar and a couple of those little scrambles that fell their way.
“They tried to milk the clock holding the ball in the corner and [Redmayne] is taking 15-20 seconds for each… he can hold it for 20 seconds and that’s 10 per cent of match time gone.”
The Wanderers will travel to Tarneit to face Western United next Sunday in search of their first points of the season.