If there was any criticism against Sydney FC's marquee player Bobo this season, it wasn't about his performances. Rather, that the Brazilian striker was playing at a level beyond what his Australian teammates had ever experienced.
The 32-year-old striker scored two goals as the Sky Blues bounced back to winning ways immediately with a 3-1 victory over Melbourne City on Friday night, earning praise from his coach and teammates.
In particular, his second goal – a classy finish from an instinctive run between the centre-backs – was heralded by coach Graham Arnold and teammate Brandon O'Neill after the game who claim only now are Sydney's midfielders understanding the runs Bobo makes and being able to find him with their passes.
A clever through-ball from Milos Ninkovic pulled City's backline apart once he played a slide-rule pass to pick the slender yet incisive movement of the centre forward. Ninkovic's 10th assist of the season lead to Bobo's 10th goal and Arnold believes the duo are starting to blossom into a deadly strike force.
"You saw that pass he gave today to Bobo. The connection between Bobo and him is getting better and better," Arnold said. "Bobo, I'm delighted with the guy, the guy has been fantastic for us also as a team worker but probably if there was one small negative for quite a while it was the players weren't seeing Bobo's runs and he makes great little forward runs, you saw it tonight, the way he scored that goal."
Sydney FC midfielder Brandon O'Neill scored Sydney's second goal with a well-taken free kick curled over the wall and like Ninkovic, is getting more accustomed to noticing the mobility of Bobo and ensuring his forward runs get rewarded with possession.
"He's a phenomenal footballer first and foremost. I don't think people give him credit for how smart he is. He makes very good runs and unfortunately sometimes we don't see his runs that he does but Niko spotted him, spotted one out of the blue last night and provided such a great ball for him. He's a smart player not only with the ball but his pressing he provides up front with Brosque and the way he works and the way he forces defenders to play the ball through the middle," he said.
O'Neill hailed the win as an important and timely three points after losing their first game of the season the week prior to Western Sydney Wanderers and revealed a controversial banner insulting thier coach was used as motivation for the players. Not only were Sydney FC unhappy to have not been rewarded at least one penalty in the Sydney Derby last week, but O'Neill says the fall-out helped galvanise the squad midweek.
"When it all came out, the FFA and Western Sydney had to deal with it but it did, it brought us together and we spoke about a few things and we sat down and nothing changed for us, we want to be premiers," he said.
