Farina: nine yellows were too many

Sydney FC head coach Frank Farina took a realistic approach after the 3-1 defeat to Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Saturday.

Coming off the back of two successive wins – including a 7-1 thumping of Wellington Phoenix – the Sky Blues were comfortably beaten by Victory in front of more than 26,000 fans in Melbourne.

Winger Marco Rojas was again terrific and he was joined on the scoresheet by Archie Thompson as the rampaging Victory claimed another victim.

Sydney defender Sebastian Ryall also scored an own goal against his former club, meaning Joel Griffiths’ late goal was nothing more than a consolation.

Farina said he was not happy with the result but Sydney would regroup quickly and look ahead to next week’s trip to Newcastle.

“I’m disappointed, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not going to slit my wrists,” Farina told reporters after the defeat.

“There was some positives that come out of the game. They (Sydney FC) were working hard. Against a good side at home, in front of a full house, you would expect the home team is going to put you under pressure.

“Sometimes you can overanalyse things. We’ll analyse it (the result) during the week but I tend not to overanalyse. You can pick the bones out of something but all you do is frustrate yourself and confuse yourself. We lost 3-1. Big deal. We move on next week, it’s another big game for us.”

Farina did take issue with referee Chris Beath – who sent off Sydney’s Brazilian defenders Tiago Calvano and Fabio in the second half – for handing out nine yellow cards in the match.

In what was not a particularly feisty game, Farina felt his side got the ‘raw end’ of Beath’s interpretation during the match.

“If you didn’t watch the game and you see two red cards and seven yellow cards, you would think Sydney and Melbourne have gone at each other,” he said.

“That wasn’t a dirty game at all. I thought it was probably one of the tamest. I certainly didn’t think it was a game worthy of nine yellows.

“I thought some of those (Melbourne’s yellows) were harsh as well but it certainly wasn’t a nine card game. For me, I just shake my head.”

Sydney lost key player Brett Emerton early with a hamstring injury, but Farina confirmed afterwards that it was not a tear.

The former Blackburn utility may have cortisone injections to help him recover, a method of recovery he used last year.

But Emerton will be in serious doubt for the match against the Jets while Farina is also likely to face selection headaches with the suspensions of Tiago and Fabio.