Sydney FC completed their record-breaking regular season in style, beating the Newcastle Jets 2-0 on Saturday night to break the A-League points record.
Second half goals to Milos Ninkovic and captain Alex Brosque sealed the points at Allianz Stadium, with Brosque lifting the A-League Premier’s Plate in front of the club’s fans after full-time.
The win saw the Sky Blues finish the season on 66 points with 20 wins, dropping points in just seven games, to beat Brisbane Roar’s total of 65 points though the Queensland side played three more games.
It was the perfect end to a dominant regular season for Sydney FC that saw Graham Arnold’s side break records for most clean sheets, greatest goal difference, most wins and biggest winning margin.
Arnold said it was a remarkable achievement.
“It’s still hard to fathom 66 points out of 81, it's crazy. It’s something that I believe, in my lifetime, I'll never see again,” he said.
“Four weeks ago we won the trophy and everyone was waiting for us to take our foot off the pedal but I think our performances improved.
“I don't think you’ll see something like that again. This year we got 20 wins and it’s a remarkable feat that the players have done.
“Newcastle made it hard for us at times but I thought we played very well tonight. I said to the boys at half-time that it was just about the execution and being a bit more relaxed in front of goal.”
Sydney FC will now enjoy a week off before facing the lowest-placed winner from this weekend’s elimination finals.
Brisbane will host Western Sydney at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane on Friday night before Perth Glory travel to AAMI Park, Melbourne to face Melbourne City. Melbourne Victory also have a bye in the first week of the finals.
