World Soccer - UK (2019-10)

rom the highs of 61,000 fans

attending a Sydney derby in 2016

and the buzz over the arrival of

Alessandro Del Piero four years

earlier, to the deep troughs that

have seen the demise of two

expansion clubs after just two and three seasons

respectively, the soap opera that is Australia’s

A-League sets out on its 15th season with the

clubs themselves now running the competition.

After three years of political in-fighting with the

clubs battling Football Federation Australia for control

• fought mostly over securing a larger slice of the
  television money – the A-League simply cannot
  afford another year of stagnation.
  To that end, the league has expanded from 10
  clubs to 11 this season, with a further team to be
  added in 12 months’ time.
  This year’s newcomer is the rather ambiguously
  named Western United. The Victorian franchise
  won one of two expansion tickets – Sydney-based
  Macarthur FC will join next season – largely on the
  back of plans to build a new 15,000-capacity football-
  specific stadium in Tarneit. But the stadium won’t be
  ready for around three years, so in the interim United
  will play mainly at GMHBA Stadium in Geelong.
  The club’s inaugural coach, Mark Rudan, has put

together an interesting side, the star of which is

Alessandro Diamanti, who was part of the Italy

squad that reached the Final of Euro 2012.

With other high-profile arrivals including Greece

international Panagiotis Kone and ex-Celtic striker

Scott McDonald, Rudan expected his team to be

competitive. Less clear is what sort

of crowds they will be able to draw to

Geelong, which is some 54km from

where the new stadium will be located.

Last year’s champions Sydney have lost

skipper Alex Brosque, who has retired,

and big-name imports Siem De Jong and

Reza Ghoochannejhad. Kosta Barbarouses

has arrived from Melbourne Victory, along

with Luke Brattan from Melbourne City

and Alexander Baumjohann, who was

deemed surplus to requirements at local

rivals Western Sydney Wanderers.

Perth Glory have lost three key players

from the squad that reached last year’s

Grand Final, with Jason Davidson joining

K-League side Ulsan Hyundai, Andy

Keogh moving to Saudi Arabia with Al

Qadsiah and Shane Lowry signing for

Qatar’s Al Ahli. In their place, Tony

from behind to beat Atletico

Mineiro 2-1 in their semi-fi nal

home leg.

VIETNAM: Hanoi claim their fifth

V.League championship, with two

games to spare, with a 1-0 victory

away at Song Lam Nghe An.

Friday September 20

AFGHANISTAN: Toofan Harirod

retain the Afghan Premier League,

beating Shaheen Asmayee 1-0 in

the knockout Final with an extra-

time goal from Hatam Shirdil.

EGYPT: Al Ahly beat Zamalek 3-2

to win the Egypt Super Cup.

Saturday September 21

ENGLAND: Manchester City score

five times in the first 18 minutes as

they thrash bottom-of-the-league

Watford 8-0.

GERMANY: Robert Lewandowski

makes it nine goals in just five

Bundesliga games as Bayern

Munich beat Cologne 4-0. RB

Leipzig win 3-0 at Werder Bremen

to remain top of the table.

ITALY: Aaron Ramsey scores on his

Serie A debut as Juventus come

from behind to beat Verona 2-1.

Second-half goals from Marcelo

Brozovic and Romelu Lukaku give

Internazionale a 2-0 win in the

derby against Milan.

SPAIN: Promoted Granada win 2-0

at home to Barcelona and go top of

La Liga.

UZBEKISTAN: Pakhtakor seal

the championship with a 12th

successive win in the Uzbekistan

Super League, beating Metallurg

Bekabad 2-1 for a record-

extending 12th domestic title.

Sunday September 22

BELGIUM: Club Brugge beat

Anderlecht 2-1 and stay second in

the table, a point behind Standard

Liege with a game in hand.

ENGLAND: Liverpool win 2-1 at

Chelsea to maintain their 100 per

cent start in the Premier League.

GREECE: PAOK and Olympiakos

drop points for the first time this

season, drawing their local derbies

2-2 and 1-1 against Aris and

Panathinaikos respectively.

HOLLAND: PSV and Ajax draw 1-1

to maintain their unbeaten starts to

the Eredivisie campaign.

IRAN: Ali Karimi misses a penalty

in the first half and is then sent off

for a second yellow card in the

89th minute as Esteghlal lose 1-0

to Persepolis in the Tehran derby.

SCOTLAND: Celtic beat Kilmarnock

3-1 to make it six wins from six

league games, while Hearts move

off the bottom of the table with

A-League

soap opera

continues

Clubs take charge

as league expands

Roar boss...

Robbie Fowler

Western star...

Alessandro Diamanti

F

Australia

SIMON HILL