Former Al Ain forward Alex Brosque scored twice in three minutes around halftime to fire Sydney FC to a 4-1 victory over Adelaide United and send his team into an A-League title decider against Melbourne Victory.
Bernie Ibini opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Chris Naumoff added the fourth in the last minute but it was Brosque, who helped Al Ain win the Arabian Gulf League title in 2013, that turned the match decisively towards the home side.
Sydney will take on Victory, who beat neighbours City 3-0 in Friday’s first semi-final, at Melbourne’s Rectangular Stadium next Sunday with both sides looking for a third title.
“It was a great game for us,” captain Brosque said. “I can’t find a player who didn’t work his socks off for us tonight.
“It’s two games against teams we hadn’t beaten this season. We beat the first tonight and we’ve got the other next week.”
Adelaide had held Sydney scoreless in their previous meetings this season but in their eagerness to press forward, too often left themselves exposed at the back.
The opening goal came when winger Naumoff ran onto a long pass down and beat the last Adelaide defender with a deft touch before cutting the ball back from the byline.
Initially it looked like he had cut it back too far but it fell to Ibini on the edge of the box and the Nigerian-born Socceroo lashed the ball into the top of the net.
The visitors had a string of chances to get back on terms before the break, the best coming when Spaniard Pablo Sanchez hit the top of the bar with a free kick after half an hour.
In stoppage time at the end of the half, though, Ibini was set free down the right and his cross found Brosque, whose sublime flick left goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic with no chance.
Two minutes after the restart and Brosque had his second, seizing on a loose ball in the Adelaide box and steering it past Galekovic with his left foot.
Austria captain Marc Janko should have put Sydney further ahead on the hour mark but was denied brilliantly by Galekovic from close range.
Craig Goodwin did find the net for Adelaide in the 74th minute but by then the majority of the crowd of 26,783 at the Sydney Football Stadium were already celebrating what looked like being a comfortable victory.
In a tempestuous and tense last 10 minutes, Brosque was lucky not to be sent off for shoving midfielder Isaias to the ground and Nigel Boogaard went centimetres wide of a second Adelaide goal with a powerful header.
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