Ninkovic gets last laugh after setting up winner in fiery Sydney derby

Milos Ninkovic recovered from a horrendous miss to provide the final pass for the goal that won an incendiary Sydney derby 1-0 for his new club, the Western Sydney Wanderers, in one of the best A-League nights the city has seen in years.

It all revolved around Ninkovic, the two-time Johnny Warren Medal winner and former Sydney FC icon who made the most controversial transfer in the league’s short history in the off-season, moving west to the Wanderers after falling out with Steve Corica and the Sky Blues’ hierarchy during negotiations for a new contract.

For weeks, the two sides have lobbed allegations of dishonesty at one another, with Ninkovic going as far as branding Corica an outright “liar” on Thursday in an interview with the Herald – but it was all due to come to a head on Saturday, on the pitch, in the first derby at the new Allianz Stadium in front of 34,232 fans.

The atmosphere was incredible, with thousands of active supporters packing in at either end to sing their team to victory – and after a tepid first half, barely worth recounting, the game exploded into life in the second.

It would be understating things to say Ninkovic was booed with every touch, although he was: Sydney FC fans loved it whenever he was stripped of the ball, crunched in a tackle or appealed for a foul that wasn’t given, cheering for his misfortune with the same fervour they once did when he pulled the strings for them.

Milos Ninkovic set up Kusini Yengi for what proved to be the match-winning goal on Saturday night.Credit:Getty

So they roared with approval in the 63rd minute, when the former Serbian international was slipped a perfect through ball by Sulejman Krpic which sent him one-on-one with Qatar-bound Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne – the best chance of the game to that point.

It was a golden opportunity for Ninkovic to break the deadlock, but he dwelled on the ball for what seemed like an eternity before firing it straight into Redmayne’s chest. The schadenfreude was delicious for Sydney supporters, and they savoured every moment of it.

But a player of Ninkovic’s class rarely makes the same sort of mistake twice within a match, and seven minutes later, he held his nerve to set up Kusini Yengi for the opening goal.