South Melbourne FC finished their Leaders Group campaign unbeaten, following an entertaining 4-2 victory over Bula FC at Eden Park.
Having already secured a place in the semi-finals, some of the pressure was taken off the Australian outfit, but for Bula, there remained a chance to avoid the semi-final playoff and advance directly to the final four.
South Melbourne made six changes to their starting line-up from their previous match, while Bula FC made seven. The reintroduction of Jack Pope to the starting eleven proved a smart call, with the forward opening the scoring in the 13th minute after sustained pressure – finishing from a tight angle after Didier Desprez misjudged a through ball.
Bula FC responded six minutes later, with Christopher Wasasala threading an awkward pass through some broken play, before Ibraheem Afazal rounded Javier Diaz Lopez to equalise.
Despite some fight from Stepháne Auvray’s men, South Melbourne FC turned up the heat as the half wore on – scoring two more goals to head into the break with a comfortable 3-1 lead.
A penalty was given to the Hellas’ in the 34th minute, when Jacob Eliopoulos was taken down in front of goal – with VAR deeming the offense a penalty. Max Mikkola stepped up to extend the lead.
One more goal followed two minutes later, when Andrew Mesourouni volleyed home with aplomb to give his side a two goal cushion at the break.
Both coaches introduced a number of changes in the second half, with South Melbourne FC making three and Bula FC four of their own.
Stepháne Auvray’s men emerged brighter in the opening exchanges of the half, putting the Australian side under sustained pressure as they looked to work their way back into the contest.
South Melbourne’s class remained however and they duly made it 4-1 through a wonderful Jordon Lampard goal – the full-back stroking the ball into the corner from the edge of the area having been set up by substitute Marco Jankovic.
Sinisa Cohadzic’s side continued to push to extend the lead, with their best chances to do so stopped by a busy Didier Desprez. At the other end, Bula persisted, determined to reduce the arrears.
Roy Krishna was brought on to give Bula FC some additional firepower and the experienced striker came close, drilling an effort off the crossbar from a tight angle.
The deadly marksman would get his goal not longer after, reacting first to a saved Nabil Begg effort in the box to tap home from close range and reduce the deficit to 4-2.
South Melbourne would prove too strong however and held on fairly comfortably, completing an unbeaten Leaders Group campaign and giving them momentum heading into next week’s semi-finals.
*Photo credit: OFC Media via Phototek
