Milos Ninkovic converted the winning penalty as Sydney FC capped a record-breaking season with a 4-2 shootout triumph against Melbourne Victory to clinch a third A-League title yesterday.
Ninkovic, voted the league’s best player, had stepped up immediately after his goalkeeper Danny Vukovic saved a Marco Rojas attempt in the shootout, following a scrappy Grand Final that had ended locked at 1-1 after extra time.
Sydney’s Alex Wilkinson and Melbourne captain Carl Valeri also missed their attempts in the shootout.
“That penalty shootout went so quickly and I can’t believe we have won it,” Vukovic said. “Pure elation. I don’t know what I would have done had I lost my fourth Grand Final.”
Hulk accused of punching coach
Brazilian striker Hulk has been accused of punching the coach of a rival team on Saturday because he “despises the Chinese people”, a claim his club Shanghai SIPG denied after their latest win in the Chinese Super League.
Hulk allegedly punched Guizhou Zhicheng assistant coach Yu Ming at half-time during his side’s 3-0 win.
“There were some arguments in the first half and their coaches took the initiative to insult us during the game, that was why we had the arguments with them,” said Guizhou coach Li Bing.
“This lasted until the break, and later, in the corridor, Hulk cursed our assistant coach in English. We argued with him and he punched our assistant coach Yu Ming and Yu fell to the ground.”
Auckland City in Club World Cup
New Zealand amateurs Auckland City will get to test themselves against the cream of world football at the FIFA Club World Cup in December after beating Team Wellington 2-0 in the second leg of the Oceania Champions League final yesterday.
Auckland won the two-legged final 5-0 on aggregate after a 3-0 victory at home last week to give them a seventh consecutive Oceania title and ninth overall.
Auckland, who finished third at the 2014 Club World Cup in Morocco, will enter a playoff for the quarter-finals at the tournament in the UAE and they are likely to face home side Al-Jazira on December 6.
Juve’s Allegri remains positive
Massimiliano Allegri focused on the positives as Juventus earned a last-minute point in a 1-1 draw with Torino.
Juve had won every game at home so far this season, but needed a last-gasp goal from Gonzalo Higuain to cancel out Adem Ljajic’s sublime 25-yard free-kick. The draw means they cannot wrap up the Serie A title this weekend, but Allegri is not concerned.
“We have to see this as a good point as it edges us that bit closer to the Scudetto,” he said.
“We won’t be able to win the title tomorrow but we’ll try to wrap it up at Roma. We need just three more points now, assuming our rivals win all their games.”
Llorente upbeat on Swans chances
Fernando Llorente is confident Swansea will stay up after escaping the Premier League relegation zone with two games left to play.
Llorente’s 13th goal of the season secured a 1-0 victory over Everton and took Swansea above Hull and out of the bottom three.
“The Hull result was good for us, but we were only concentrating on our match,” said Spain striker Llorente.
“We played a good game with high intensity.
“Our confidence is up and if we continue in this way I think we will stay in the league. It depends on our results now, we have two matches left and if we win those we stay in the league.”
Johnston pens new Celtic deal
Michael Johnston signed a new three-year deal with Celtic after making his Hoops debut against St Johnstone at Parkhead.
The 18-year-old attacker put pen to paper following his first competitive game for the Scottish champions in the 4-1 win over the Saints.
Johnston said: “It’s been a really special day and I’m absolutely delighted having played for this club for about 10 years and I have supported them my whole life.’’