KEY POINTS:
The party-pooping New Zealand Knights claimed their biggest A-League scalp in beating defending champions Sydney FC 1-0 at Aussie Stadium last night.
The dramatic victory snapped Sydney's nine-game unbeaten run and cost them an early play-off spot.
Seeking to continue from where they left off in their stunning
upset over Queensland Roar, the Knights had only 16 minutes to wait.
After sharing the early exchanges with the home side, the deadlock was broken, a little surprisingly, from set play.
Winning their first corner after Alen Marcina had broken into the penalty area and forced Jacob Timpano to play the ball over the goal-line, Leilei Gao whipped over his left foot cross from the right.
Che Bunce, breaking away from his marker, charged towards the near post and hooked his effort into the Sydney goal beating Clint Bolton for the first time in ages.
It was the first goal conceded by the defending champions in 547 minutes and the first scored by the Knights at the ground - from their only corner in the first spell.
The home side forced four and had a couple of other chances from free kicks in a good attacking position.
The best fell to Mark Milligan - a free header from a free kick - which was harshly awarded against Bunce.
Knights goalkeeper Mark Paston was in the right place to block.
Frustrated, Sydney often resorted to hopeful long-range efforts which posed few problems although Paston was called into action to save on a couple of occasions.
With a slight advantage in possession and a 12-4 shot count in their favour, Sydney would have expected better. But, with only four on target, another story was told.
It was all Sydney in the early stages of the second half with Sasho Petrovski on at the break to bolster the attack.
They created a growing number of half chances but failed to convert and from a rare sortie, in which Marcina and Milligan were booked, they won an attacking free kick and a corner but failed with both. In another raid, in the 65th minute, Jonas Salley found Marcina but his header was saved one-handed by Bolton.
The game then opened up with the Knights pushing further forward to give the home side some hope of catching them on the break. They did, at times, but too often without conviction.
With solid games again throughout the team but with Marcina up front and Paston in goal perhaps the chief contributors, it was another post-Christmas gift for coach Ricki Herbert in a week New Zealand Soccer will be out with the begging bowl to ensure the Knights live on.
The home side tried everything to keep the 16,000-strong crowd happy but ran out of ideas against a Knights side who eventually celebrated their second successive Hyundai A-League victory - another first against a team they had never beaten and had lost 1-0 and 4-0 to this season.
The stats favoured the home side in all but one. That one goal the difference and a fitting reward for the gallant battlers.
No one gave the Knights a hope, especially not bookmakers with New South Wales TAB Sportsbet rating them $11.50 to win, $6.30 for a draw and Sydney as red-hot $1.17 favourites.
Milestones
* Sydney's 547-minute clean sheet wiped.
* Ends nine-game unbeaten run for defending A-League champions.The Knights' first victory against Sydney.
* Just the Knights' second away win in two years of trying.
* Knights' first back-to-back wins in the league.
