Sydney FC will head into the second Sydney derby of the season on top of the table after downing Adelaide United 1-0 on Friday night.
The Sky Blues took the lead on the stroke of half-time through striker Bobo after man of the match Josh Brilliante and Luke Wilkshire combined.
Sydney rarely looked troubled by the Reds, with the three points pushing the Sky Blues five points clear at the summit.
Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold was pleased with his side’s clinical performance but said there was more to come from the reigning champions.
“We’ve more work to do but in the second half we were excellent,” he said.
“Defence wins championships. We kept the ball well at times but lost the ball a bit too. We needed to react and we did. We defended very well tonight.
“People think defence starts at the back but it starts from the front. [Alex] Brosque and Bobô do a fantastic job.”
Brosque said it was a “confident and structured” performance.
“[It shows] we’re hard to break down,” he said.
“Our best form of attack is to press high and they started turning the ball over more which lead to us getting that goal.
“That goal at half-time made us grow and gave us believe to go on, get more chances and get the win.”
Sydney FC travel to ANZ Stadium to face Western Sydney on Saturday night.
Kick-off is at 7.50pm.
