Sydney FC star Joe Lolley has complained the "stupid amount" of red cards in the A-League Men is ruining games after his side lost 1-0 away to a Macarthur side which hung on despite finishing with just nine men.
The Bulls pulled off one of their most famous wins on Saturday, jumping above Sydney into fourth spot on the ladder, despite playing the last half-hour two men down.
Macarthur took the lead at Campbelltown Stadium through a Jed Drew goal in.the fourth minute of added time in the first half and held on in front of their biggest ever home crowd of 7723.
The win, Macarthur's first in four home games against Sydney, moved them three points clear of their local rivals heading into next week's final round.
Macarthur had defenders Ivan Vujica and Tommy Smith sent off, in the 35th and 65th minute respectively -- both following involvement from the VAR -- after both had initially been given yellow cards by referee Daniel Elder.
Vujica caught Lolley on the ankle in a clash for the ball, but it didn't appear to be a particularly dangerous or malicious tackle,
New Zealand international Smith raised his arm and caught Sydney's Brazilian striker Fabio Gomes in the face.
Vujica's dismissal was especially contentious and incensed Macarthur fans, pundits and social media.
Lolley felt the challenge merited nothing worse than a yellow card.
"He's caught me a little bit but it's just football. You see those challenges every week," Lolley told Paramount Plus and Ten Bold.
"It makes you scared of trying to even make a tackle.The statistics are there and it's just a stupid amount of reds at the moment. They are ruining games of football.
"I tried to tell the ref it's never a red."
Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski, who rated it one of the biggest wins of his tenure, was standing close to the incident involving Lolley and Vujica.
"I think both players had their feet up, I think the ref has got it wrong there," Sterjovski said.
VAR intervention finally favoured the Bulls when a potential Lolley equaliser in the 75th minute was ruled out for offside.
Drew's winner came when he lashed a right-foot shot high into the net after Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne pushed the Macarthur player's initial right foot effort back into his path.
The Bulls lost forward Raphael to injury in the 20th minute but while Sydney had 10 more shots than their opponents, Macarthur had more attempts on target.
Bulls goalkeeper Filip Kurto pulled off some good saves and the lacklustre Sky Blues sprayed numerous attempts high and wide, while struggling for fluency.
"I definitely think that we were collectively poor tonight, the decision-making, the duels, they were a lot more hungrier than us," Sydney coach Ufuk Talay said.
"I think if we got a goal In that game and we got a draw out of it, it wouldn't have been fair to Macarthur with the performance that we displayed tonight."
It was the second straight game Macarthur had won despite having at least one player sent off.
"With two players sent off it felt like everything was going against us, but credit to the boys again showing against all odds they can come back and keep fighting," Sterjovski said.
Australian Associated Press
