Following his extra time winner against Sydney FC, Dylan McGowan has praised his teammates’ “resilience,” snatching victory and enabling the Reds to progress into the quarter-finals of the Westfield FFA Cup.
McGowan, who notched up his second goal for the club, admitted although United‘s performance was not their best, the determination and “resilience” the Reds showed is definitely encouraging.
“I don’t think we played great tonight, so there’s definitely room for improvement, but it’s a massive win for the club,” said McGowan.
“To keep a team as good as Sydney to so few chances in the first half when we’re not playing well was important, so we took that into the break and I thought we played better in extra time than I think we did in the second half.
“I think tonight we showed great defensive resolve and when our backs were against the wall, especially in the second half. We tried to strangle some pressure and we were fortunate to get my goal and get over the line in the end.”
Reflecting on his own personal performance and his goal, McGowan was delighted, claiming that scoring in front of the Red army was definitely a highlight for him.
”It was a bit lucky the way it fell to me, but I have scored some good goals in some good games especially against Melbourne Victory at home,” said McGowan.
“But it’s good to get one in extra time in front of the Red Army and our crowd, so I thoroughly enjoyed that.
“Overall, the effort was there, especially from people such as Marcelo (Carrusca) and Jimmy (Jeggo). These guys were running through brick walls for us and it was hugely important and lucky for us to get away with the win.”
With the match going into extra time, both sides were forced to work hard in search of a winner, and so McGowan was pleased to get one over the Sky Blues so early in the season.
“As I said earlier, Sydney are a great team and to get one over them early in the campaign is always good,” said McGowan.
“But we will build on that into the next round of the Cup and into the first A-league game against the Melbourne Victory.”
