Matchday 2 of the Round of 16 in the Hahn Australia Cup provided plenty of goals as two more teams earned their places in the quarter-finals.
Sydney FC held off a valiant Brisbane Roar comeback, while South Melbourne progressed on penalties against Fremantle City.
Brisbane Roar 2 Sydney FC 4
Sydney FC staved off a resurgent Brisbane Roar to win 4-2 and claim their place in the quarter-finals.
The visitors came flying out of the blocks and opened the scoring within two minutes, when Takahiro Sekine nodded home from Ben Garuccio’s cross.
Sydney didn’t stop there and doubled their advantage in the 25th minute. Garuccio executed a superb dipping volley from the left edge of the box that nestled in the top right corner.
The Sky Blues added a third goal 36 minutes in.
Mathias Macallister snatched the ball in a central position, and it fell to Tiago Quintal, who made no mistake with an emphatic finish from the edge of the box.
Brisbane picked up a lifeline on the stroke of halftime as Jordan Lauton prodded the ball into the bottom left corner from inside the area.
Sydney were in a strong position at the break, but a late goal from Brisbane gave them some hope.
The Roar carried on in the second half and scored again in the 69th minute as Alexander Popovic inadvertently diverted a right-wing cross into his own goal.
The hosts continued to push on in pursuit of a miraculous equaliser, but Sydney FC sealed the victory in the dying embers.
Gabriel Popovic slid in to steer a neat finish into the bottom left corner, following a cross from the right.
The striker’s goal confirmed Sydney FC’s place in the next round to continue their run in the Cup.
South Melbourne 3(3) Fremantle City 3(1)
South Melbourne made their way into the next round of the Cup. with a dramatic penalty victory over Fremantle City.
The hosts made a dominant start to the match and burst into a two-goal within the first 20 minutes.
Arran Cocks opened the scoring 12 minutes in with a spectacular effort. He cut inside from the left and picked out the top right corner via the post.
Eight minutes later, David Yoo doubled Hellas’ advantage with a smart finish to convert Jack Painter-Andrews’ right-sided cross.
Fremantle hit back in the 32nd minute when Charles Chechlacz tucked away his penalty into the bottom left corner.
Only four minutes later, the visitors drew level, carrying on their comeback ways from the Round of 32 win against Maitland.
Cameron Edwards latched onto Riley Woodcock’s long ball into the left channel and head it past South Melbourne goalkeeper Jake Charlston.
An exhilarating first half concluded with the teams unable to be separated.
City completed the turnaround just six minutes after the restart as Shubham Mokala raced in on goal and deftly lobbed the ball over Charlston and watched it bounce over the line.
South Melbourne stayed in the contest and restored parity in the 70th minute, courtesy of Bul Juach’s well-taken penalty into the left of the goal.
Neither team could find a winner in the remainder of regular time or extra time, despite a few good opportunities both ways, meaning penalties were required.
Charlston stepped up with a massive performance for South Melbourne to save three of Fremantle’s penalties and secure his team a quarter-final berth.
