The pressure may have momentarily eased for Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay following his side’s 3-2 injury-time A-League Men's win against Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium - but the heat's still firmly on his Reds counterpart Carl Veart.
Patryk Klimala had Sydney in front twice with Archie Goodwin equalising for the Reds on each occasion, before substitute Adrian Segecic netted a 94th minute winner for Sydney in a dramatic affair on Saturday.
The result lifted the Sky Blues into sixth at the expense of Adelaide, with Sydney boasting a far superior goal difference as both teams sit on 33 points – one clear of Macarthur, who have played one match more, and three points behind fifth-placed Melbourne Victory.
Talay denied feeling any pressure despite Sydney being in the thick of battling it out for a finals berth, while also preparing to face Lion City Sailors FC in the Asian Champions League Two semi-final in Singapore on Wednesday.
Sydney then take on league leaders Auckland at home on Saturday before backing up for the second leg of their ACL semi four days later.
“Pressure is what you put on yourself, your own expectation,” Talay said.
“There’s always going to be external pressure that you can’t control. The pressure is that we want to be successful, that we want to get into finals football and at the same time we’re in a great position, playing in a semi-final in an ACL competition where we could do well and possibly play in a final.
“I still think we’re in a great position and winning tonight gives us that opportunity. Everything is in our hands moving forward."
But there's no respite for his counterpart Veart, who was in the headlines in Adelaide during the week with speculation that the club will move him on at season’s end.
Pressure has gradually increased for Veart with the Reds enduring a horror run of form, winless in their last seven matches and shipping goals for fun.
United have conceded 23 goals since their last win, registering five losses and two draws in that time.
Veart maintained his desire to keep coaching the Reds beyond this season and denied that anything but a finals finish would ultimately seal his fate.
“I don’t know about that,” he said.
“I’ve been very clear with the club with what I want to achieve as a coach.
“I will always provide that pathway for the younger players and at times, yes I could have been a bit more demanding from the club to give us resources so we could get a few more players in but I’d rather give that opportunity to a younger player than bring someone else in that’s not going to win help us to win things.”
