Ange Postecoglou hopes Sydney FC's surprise 2-1 victory over his high-flying Celtic outfit can kick-start their season when the A-League returns after the World Cup.
The Sky Blues sit in the A-League's top six by the barest of margins after a hot-and-cold start to 2022/23 but their come-from-behind win in Thursday night's friendly was their finest effort of the summer so far.
Even without injured defenders Jack Rodwell, James Donachie and Alex Wilkinson as well as Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, Sydney restricted the usually prolific Bhoys to only one goal and were the more threatening side in attack for the first half.
Postecoglou praised the Sky Blues, who grabbed the win with goals from Robert Mak and Max Burgess, adding that he was not surprised by the standard at which they played.
"Sydney are a good team, 'Bimby' (Steve Corica) is a good coach and hopefully they get on a run in the league now," he said.
"They were good, especially in the first half.
"In the second half, we got on top of it but the game goes for 90 minutes, not 45, so it wasn't good enough."
After losing to bitter rivals Western Sydney in their most recent A-League game, Sydney now have a spring in their step heading into the rest of the break.
"It's always disappointing to lose a derby, especially 1-0," Sydney coach Corica said.
"So it's nice to get a win here against the quality side that they are.
"It was really good for the boys' confidence.
"The boys have got a few days off to refresh and then we get back off it and we start training again."
The win was also Sydney's first victory at the refurbished Allianz Stadium from four attempts and Corica's first defeat of a Postecoglou-coached side.
"It was nice to get one over him this time round," Corica said.
"It's our first win in this stadium so that's very pleasing as well for the players.
"That monkey's off our back.
"We need to move forward now."
