Sydney FC hands Western Sydney Wanderers huge present The Central Coast Mariners have slumped to back-to-back losses for the first time this season, going down 2-0 to Sydney FC. Sebastian Ryall celebrates his goal with teammates at Allianz Stadium Source: Getty Images SYDNEY FC has stayed in the A-League finals hunt with a sensational 2-0 upset win over the Central Coast. The stunning result left Mariners coach Graham Arnold declaring his side out of Premiers' Plate contention. Sebastian Ryall put the hosts in front in the opening half and Joel Chianese doubled the advantage after the break to lift Sydney into fifth spot with their sixth win in a row at Allianz Stadium tonight. The Mariners, suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season, remain in second spot but the Sky Blues did cross-city rivals and ladder leaders Western Sydney a big favour. The Wanderers can widen the gap at the top to five points with a win over bottom-placed Wellington on Sunday. Arnold, playing his usual mind-games, put the ball firmly in the Wanderers' court. I think the Premiers' Plate (minor premiership) is nearly gone. The Western Sydney Wanderers have got two hands on it now, especially if they win tomorrow," he said. They'll be excited by our result tonight, there might be a few who don't sleep well tonight for them. But with that type of crowd behind them the pressure is on them to win tomorrow. Arnold, whose side have to juggle the Asian Champions League with their run to the finals, admitted cracks might be beginning to appear. They travel to Japan for an ACL game on Wednesday before taking on Brisbane next week, Adelaide the week after then Melbourne Heart. "Physically all the signs say they're fine but they could be mentally fatigued," he said. With that comes decision making and they're doing things they don't normally do ... but they've got to be bigger and better than that. Sydney coach Frank Farina praised his side's backline that was able to nullify the most potent attack in the league. Tiago Calvano and Adam Griffiths partnered in the centre of defence in place of injured Socceroo skipper Lucas Neill (calf) with Ryall at right-back and utility Rhyan Grant on the left. But with Neill expected to be fit for next week's match against Melbourne Victory most were left wondering where he'd fit in. "We'll assess his fitness and assess everyone who played tonight ... so there's no point speculating on anything now," Farina said. I thought the back-four played very well - that was our strength tonight. We got two goals but the key to tonight was our defence. Having overcome their Mariners hurdle things don't get any easier for Sydney with third-placed Victory next week before facing the Wanders then travelling to Brisbane for their final-round clash. "We've got three games left and we need at least another three or six points from them," Farina said. SYDNEY FC 2 (Sebastian Ryall 26m, Joel Chianese 73m) CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 0 at Allianz Stadium.