Saturday night’s clash against newly-crowned Premiers Sydney FC will see two of the Hyundai A-League’s hottest strikers go head-to-head. City captain Bruno Fornaroli and Sydney FC’s star forward Bobô have both been clinical in front of goal this season. We look at how the pair matchup in our Key Battle ahead of the game at the Allianz Stadium.
In terms of goals, Fornaroli leads the way with 17 compared to Bobo’s 12. The City skipper has made 23 A-League appearances this campaign and has scored four times in City’s last three games, including back-to-back braces against Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets.
Bobo has featured 24 times for the Sky Blues this season but has played less minutes than Fornaroli. The Sydney striker has been on the pitch for a total of 1,899 minutes this campaign, whereas Fornaroli has played 2,056 minutes.
When the sides last met in February at AAMI Park, Bobo scored twice as Sydney recorded a 3-1 victory. The Brazilian striker also scored when City made the trip to the Allianz Stadium back in December, converting a late penalty in the 1-1 draw to cancel out Fernando Brandan’s opener.
Both strikers are their side’s regular penalty takers and eight of Fornaroli’s 17 goals have come from the penalty spot this campaign. In contrast Bobo has converted two spot kicks this season, the second of which came against City last month.
Fornaroli has been the most productive of the two players this season, creating a total of 32 chances for his teammates. Bobo has created 23 chances, however the Sydney man has registered four assists this campaign while Fornaroli has none.
In terms of shooting accuracy, Fornaroli has hit the target 63.2 per cent of the time, meanwhile Bobô’s shooting accuracy is significantly lower at 49.1 per cent.
With both sides looking to build momentum ahead of next month’s play offs, the top of the table encounter could be decided by the form of these two influential strikers.
