Sydney FC boss Ufuk Talay has refused to kick stones after Andrew Redmayne was sent off for the first time in his A-League Men career in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Macarthur FC.
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The Bulls remain undefeated through their opening seven games and moved to the top of the ladder with victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Rising midfield talent Jake Hollman scored inside the opening half hour before Frenchman Valere Germain put the result beyond doubt with five minutes left.
But the biggest talking point will centre around Sydney goalkeeper Redmayne who handled the ball outside of his box in the 16th minute.
Closing down a Macarthur attack, Redmayne was 30 yards off his line when a goal-bound shot from Matthew Millar hit the upper part of his right arm.
After reviewing the incident referee Daniel Elder showed the Sydney No.1 a straight red, deeming Millar had been denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity by Redmayne's actions.
Talay said he didn't believe the action was intentional and was philosophical after his side kept going against the Bulls.
"I don't think Redders put his arm towards the ball, it's more the ball hit his arm," Talay said.
"Whether the ball is going towards the goal is a different story as well.
"Look, the referee made a decision and we have to live with it.
"It's a learning for us moment for us, we created opportunities and just didn't reward ourselves in those moments.
"I do believe we deserved something out of the game."
Reserve 'keeper Adam Pavlesic was substituted on for just his second appearance at the expense of striker Patrick Wood.
Down a man, the hosts continued to fight but Macarthur's advantage was evident whenever they countered and it was through a rapid transition that led to Hollman giving the Bulls the lead.
Germain raced up field after a long ball and he was was able to find Hollman, who chested a pass down before guiding it past Pavlesic to register his fourth goal in five games.
Sydney refused to take their foot off the gas after halftime and Talay's men had 67 per cent possession in the second half.
But when Gabriel Lacerda dragged a shot wide and Robert Mak had a goal chalked off for offside it began to feel like it wasn't going to be their night.
Germain made sure of that with five minutes left to play as he flicked a Jed Drew cross into the back of the net to give Mile Sterjovski's men victory.
"It was such a tough game for us and credit to Sydney FC, I thought they played really well," Sterjovski said.
"In the end we took our chances and I thought we defended really well, especially inside the box - that made the difference in the end.
"I think last year, we would have conceded but in the last few weeks where we've dug deep and we've made it a lot harder for the teams to score."
Australian Associated Press
