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2016 FFA Cup Final

AAMI Park hosted the match.
Event	FFA Cup Final
Melbourne City Sydney FC 1 0
Date	30 November 2016
Venue	AAMI Park, Melbourne
Man of the Match	Bruno Fornaroli
Referee	Peter Green
Attendance	18,751
Weather	Overcast 19 °C (66 °F)
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The 2016 FFA Cup Final was the 3rd final of the FFA Cup, the premier soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. The match was held on 30 November 2016 at AAMI Park. Melbourne Victory were the defending champions, but were defeated 2–0 by Melbourne City in the semi-finals. The other team to qualify for the Final was Sydney FC, who defeated Canberra Olympic 3–0 in their respective semi-final.

The Final was the first to feature either Melbourne City or Sydney FC. Melbourne City won the match 1–0, Tim Cahill scoring the only goal via a header. As of October 2023, it remains the largest attended FFA Cup final in the tournaments history, despite the match being played on a Wednesday evening, with a crowd of 18,751.

Road to the final

Melbourne City

Melbourne City were among 704 teams who entered the FFA Cup competition, and as an A-League club, entered the tournament in the Round of 32.

Melbourne City travelled to Perth for the opening Round of 32 clash against second-tier side Floreat Athena and narrowly won 2–1.

In the Round of 16, City were pitted against second-tier club Brisbane Strikers. Playing away from home, City went down a goal before coming from behind to win 2–1 again.

City then put in arguably the most impressive performance of their cup campaign, defeating A-League opponent Western Sydney Wanderers 4–1 at home.

In a spiteful derby semi-final, City defeated rivals Melbourne Victory 2–0 at AAMI Park.

Sydney FC

Same as their opponents, Sydney FC entered the tournament in the Round of 32.

Sydney FC began their FFA Cup journey with a 3–0 win over the Wollongong Wolves at WIN Stadium.

They then defeated fellow A-League side Perth Glory 2–0, away from home at Dorrien Gardens in Perth.

Sydney FC were drawn to face in-form second division side Blacktown City at the Sydney United Sports Centre, though were again clinical in a 3–0 victory.

Their semi-final opponents, Canberra Olympic were competitive though unable to match the Sky Blues' firing power, Sydney winning the match 3–0.

Pre-match

Venue selection

The FFA announced that AAMI Park would host the 2016 final. AAMI Park also hosted the 2015 FFA Cup Final and the 2015 A-League Grand Final. In outlining the reason for the decision, FFA CEO David Gallop argued AAMI Park would succeed in "maximising attendance and broadcast numbers while ensuring the Cup Final is played in a venue that embodies the unique spirit of the competition". The decision to play the Final at AAMI Park was controversial. Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow labelled the decision "a slap in the face" to the club, who did not have a single home game throughout the tournament and had the best record of the two finalists. Barlow also hit out at the fact AAMI Park would host the Final for the second consecutive year and said the "decision was made by the FFA purely for commercial reasons, it is an unfair decision to our club and it is Sydney FC fans who are the ones that will miss out".

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live on Fox Sports. A live stream of the match was available for all Fox Sports TV subscribers through News Corp with a full replay available upon the completion of match.

Opening ceremony

A minute's silence was held moments before the start of the match out of respect for the players of the Chapecoense club from Brazil, many of whom were killed in a plane crash in Colombia two days earlier.

Match

Summary

First half

The match was a mostly cagey affair with neither side being able to grab the ascendancy and dominate proceedings. A feisty tackle by City midfielder Luke Brattan on Michael Zullo inside the opening 10 minutes resulted in a yellow card and set the tone for aggressive hostilities between the two teams. The best chance of the first half fell to the eventual goalscorer Tim Cahill, who headed fractionally wide from a set piece in the 35th minute. Both teams had good spells of possession and entered threatening areas, though both lacked the finishing class to put their team in front.

Second half

In the second half, Sydney's Alex Brosque missed an early chance and was immediately punished following a perfect cross by Ivan Franjic, which found Cahill unmarked and resulted in a header into the free opposite corner of the goal. Sydney's best chance to equalise came in the 70th minute, when Bobô headed from a Matt Simon cross into an unmarked goal; however, desperate defending on the line from defender Michael Jakobsen kept City's clean sheet intact. The match reached fever pitch in the final five minutes, with Brosque being denied a clear shot on goal due to controversial defending by City defender Osama Malik and winger Fernando Brandán squandering a golden opportunity to double the home side's lead. It mattered not however, as City hung on to claim its first ever trophy of any kind as a senior team.

Details

Melbourne City	1–0	Sydney FC
Cahill 53'	Report

Melbourne City

Sydney FC

GK 20  Dean Bouzanis (AUS) RB 8  Neil Kilkenny (AUS) CB 6  Osama Malik (AUS) CB 22  Michael Jakobsen (DEN) LB 5  Ivan Franjic (AUS) CDM 26  Luke Brattan (AUS) CM 17  Tim Cahill (AUS)  61' CM 9  Nicolás Colazo (ARG) LW 11  Bruce Kamau (AUS)  83' ST 23  Bruno Fornaroli (c) (URU) RW 27  Fernando Brandán (ARG) Substitutes: GK 1  Thomas Sørensen (DEN) DF 2  Manny Muscat (MLT) DF 4  Connor Chapman (AUS) MF 10  Anthony Cáceres (AUS)  61' FW 12  Nicholas Fitzgerald (AUS)  89'  83' Manager:  John van 't Schip (NED)

GK 20  Danny Vukovic (AUS) RB 23  Rhyan Grant (AUS) CB 2  Sebastian Ryall (AUS) CB 5  Matt Jurman (AUS) LB 7  Michael Zullo (AUS) CDM 13  Brandon O'Neill (AUS)  26'  72' CDM 6  Joshua Brillante (AUS) LM 10  Miloš Ninković (SRB) CAM 14  Alex Brosque (c) (AUS) RM 21  Filip Hološko (SVK)  62' ST 9  Bobô (BRA) Substitutes: GK 30  Mitch Evans (AUS) DF 17  David Carney (AUS)  87'  72' DF 4  Alex Wilkinson (AUS) MF 8  Miloš Dimitrijević (SRB) FW 18  Matt Simon (AUS)  62' Manager:  Graham Arnold (AUS)

Statistics

Post-match

Melbourne City captain Bruno Fornaroli was named man of the match. In his post-match address, Fornaroli uttered a loud profanity into the microphone, which resulted in him and the club being issued a formal warning by the FFA. The crowd of 18,751 was the highest ever for any match in the FFA Cup to that point in time. Melbourne City received $50,000 for winning the tournament, and Sydney FC received $25,000.

See also

• 2016 FFA Cup
• 2016–17 Melbourne City FC season
• 2016–17 Sydney FC season

References

1. "Melbourne City FC vs Sydney FC, FFA Cup, Cup Final, 30th Nov 2016". 31 July 2017.
2. "Melbourne, Australia Local Weather". AccuWeather. 30 November 2016.
3. "FFA Cup final set to be sky blue after Melbourne City defeat Melbourne Victory". ABC News. 25 October 2016.
4. "Ibini goal seals Sydney FC's spot in FFA Cup Final". SBS: The World Game. 19 October 2016.
5. "Australia Cup | Austadiums".
6. ^ "2016 FFA Cup FAQs". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
7. "Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City FC, FFA Cup, Semi-Finals, 25th Oct 2016". 31 July 2017.
8. "Canberra Olympic vs Sydney FC, FFA Cup, Semi-Finals, 19th Oct 2016". 31 July 2017.
9. "AAMI Park to host Westfield FFA Cup Final 2016". Football Federation Australia. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
10. "Sydney FC chairman slams FFA's 'pre-determined' decision to play FFA Cup final in Melbourne". The Daily Telegraph. 26 October 2016.
11. "FAQS". FFA Cup. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
12. "Melbourne City create history with FFA Cup final win". December 2016.
13. ^ "City crowned Westfield FFA Cup 2016 winners". Football Federation Australia. 30 November 2016.
14. "FFA Cup 2016: Tim Cahill magic brings Melbourne City its first silverware". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 November 2016.
15. "FFA Cup Final moments that mattered: Alex Brosque denied late free kick as City win first trophy". Fox Sports. 30 November 2016.
16. "FFA Cup How Draw Works". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
17. "Statistics". FFA Cup. 30 November 2016.
18. "Bruno Fornaroli's FFA Cup F-bomb earns reprimand after Melbourne City striker's expletive". ABC News. 2 December 2016.
19. "Record night for the Westfield FFA Cup". Football Federation Australia. 2 December 2016.
20. "FFA Cup 2016 Competition Regulations" (PDF). Football Federation Australia. p. 59. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

External links

• Official website

• 2016 domestic association football cups
• 2016 in Australian soccer
• Melbourne City FC matches
• Sydney FC matches
• Soccer in Melbourne
• Australia Cup finals