Sydney FC have emerged from the jaws of defeat in a dramatic Sydney Derby, overturning a two-goal deficit to salvage a 3-3 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
The Wanderers appeared destined for their first derby win since November 2023 thanks to Zac Sapsford’s double that made him the club’s leading goalscorer in the historic of the rivalry fixture but Anthony Caceres’ 97th-minute equaliser capped a remarkable comeback at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
“The great comeback kings of the A-League,” said Network 10 commentator Simon Hill, while co-commentator Andy Harper added “spine-tingling”.
With the result, Sydney moved up to third in the standings while eighth-placed Western Sydney are two points outside of the top six.
Sydney went into the game eyeing a fifth straight derby win and an historic sweep of their city rivals in 2024-25, while the Wanderers were eyeing their first victory since November 2023 in the absence of injured Spanish superstar Juan Mata.
After Western Sydney went close to breaking the deadlock through Kraev, a moment of magic from Caceres teed up Klimala for the seventh-minute opener.
Caceres’ brilliant outside-of-the-boot pass released Klimala, whose darting run result in the Pole making the most of his chance as he celebrated in front of the Wanderers fans.
But Sydney’s lead was short-lived. It was Sapsford who pounced after Sky Blues goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares could only parry a save straight to the feat of the Wanderers forward.
It was the perfect response to falling behind and the Wanderers looked a threat throughout the opening half.
Western Sydney hit the front six minutes before half-time. A flowing counter-attacking move saw the ball end up in the back of the net but the flag went up while Milanovic pleaded that he was not offside. However, after a lengthy review, replays showed Milanovic was not offside and the goal stood two minutes later with it ruled a Rhyan Grant own goal.
It got better for the Wanderers two minutes into the second half when Sapsford netted his second of the match. A reverse pass from Brandon Borrello played through his teammate and while the flag went up initially, the Western Sydney star was ruled to have been onside as he wheeled away in celebration.
As a result, Sapsford moved within one goal of the all-time derby goalscoring record help by Sydney FC legend Alex Brosque.
Sapsford came within a whisker of completing his hat-trick in the 58th minute but twice, he saw his shots cleared off the line.
With Douglas Costa on the pitch to try to orchestrate a comeback, Sydney continued to push forward and Segecic nearly pulled a goal back during the closing stages but Lawrence Thomas got down low to make a brilliant finger-tip save.
Segecic did get his goal in the 88th minute to setup a grandstand finish and it led to a remarkable finale as Caceres found the back of the net at the death.
