Joel Chianese heaps praise upon Alessandro Del Piero Joel Chianese is ecstatic after scoring against Newcastle on Friday. When Alessandro Del Piero pulls some of his younger Sydney FC teammates aside for some extra tutelage, he hopes it leads to moments such as the Joel Chianese goal that gave the Sky Blues a 2-0 season opening win against Newcastle on Friday night. Chianese revealed how he was one of the youngsters being given extra mentoring by Del Piero following training sessions. It was a Del Piero pass that found Chianese in the 60th minute and enabled the young striker to join the Italian as a goal scorer on Friday night. "After any session ... he'll be happy to stay back 15-20 minutes," Chianese said. A lot of people don't see that, it's really awesome. You don't feel scared to ask him for anything. I've been doing that a lot. One thing he has been drilling into my mind and other attacking players' minds is that when someone has the ball, you have to do something. Every time the ball moves you need to change your run to give the team another option. You're always thinking right, 'I don't have the ball but I have to make another option.' That's what he has really been putting into our heads and that's what happened [on Friday night]. It's good to get the monkey off the back. I probably should have had a goal early in the first half but I had a bit of a bad touch. I wasn't happy with that. To get the goal was a relief. It capped off a good night for the team. As long as you're in the right position most of the time, [Del Piero] is going to find you, that's the quality he has. He is great on the ball and he can finish. There was never any doubt of you getting the ball if you make the run. Luckily he found me and that gives him a bit of confidence as well, knowing he can rely on us. Del Piero was again among Sydney FC's best as they put aside a horror pre-season to find form and kick-start their A-League campaign. Chianese said the win was a confidence booster. "I think it was a bit of a relief for everyone," he said. We were written off before the whistle had been blown because of the poor last few weeks. We have a mindset within the club to make our home ground a fortress again. The Sky Blues overcame an injury crisis to beat the Jets. They were without Peter Triantis (groin), Corey Gameiro (knee), Terry Antonis (thigh), Tiago Calvano (thigh), Terry McFlynn (groin) and Pascal Bosschaart (ankle). A back injury also kept marquee midfielder Brett Emerton out of the clash but the 34-year-old is expected to return when the side travels to Brisbane to play the Roar on Saturday night. "We had a few injures which were long term so we didn't have to change too much as we were planning to play without those players," Chianese said. There's a lot of competition for spots and we've got players who can step up for any position, which is a good dilemma for the coaching staff.