Football
AAP 6y

Sydney FC through to FFA Cup final with big win over South Melbourne

Sydney FC ended South Melbourne's FFA Cup run to book a spot in the decider with a clinical 5-1 victory in Wednesday night's semifinal.

Brazilian striker Bobo netted two goals for the reigning A-League champions in torrential rain at Lakeside Stadium.

One more win against Western Sydney or Adelaide in the FFA Cup final next month would complete a clean sweep of Australia's domestic trophies for Graham Arnold's side.

South Melbourne, the four-time NSL champions, put in a valiant effort and their semi-professional players gave Sydney a scare when substitute Leigh Minopoulos made it 2-1 just after halftime.

But their effort was not enough to bridge the gap in class against the star-studded visitors.

David Carney's opener after three minutes was allowed despite the veteran appearing to be offside, while a surging Jordy Buijs run set up Bobo for the second in the 17th minute.

Despite dominating the first half, the Sky Blues briefly lost control as the hosts mounted their comeback at the start of the second.

But Bobo poked home an Alex Brosque pass in the 66th minute to restore Sydney's breathing space before Sebastian Ryall and Matt Simon rounded off the scoring.

South Melbourne had played just two competitive games in the past seven weeks, with the Victorian state-league season ending in August, and ultimately didn't have the legs to run with Sydney.

Rubbing salt into their wounds was a potentially serious knee injury to key midfielder Marcus Schroen, stretchered off after just 16 minutes.

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