Ninkovic needed trainers to help him hobble off the field. Uskok was rightly shown a yellow card for his challenge, which caught him on his right ankle.
United did see red in the end, however, when veteran Andrew Durante was sent off in added time after a VAR review for taking an open-handed swipe at the face of Jordi Swibel after a challenge.
Coach Steve Corica kept his faith in out-of-sorts pair Andrew Redmayne and Barbarouses in the starting line-up despite their recent errors.
Redmayne was hardly tested in goal and, while Barbarouses didn’t score, he will be happy with his assist and the penalty he won that gave them the lead in the 17th minute.
Grant, too, was involved in the play, latching onto a cheeky backheel from Ninkovic before cutting the ball back across the goalmouth. It spilled clear, but as Barbarouses tried to round up the scraps, ex-teammate Aaron Calver clattered into him, giving referee Daniel Elder an easy decision to make.
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Bobo took the penalty and made no mistake from the spot, scoring his second goal in two games for Sydney.
Anthony Caceres twice came close to widening the margin in the first half with long-range strikes, testing the reflexes of Scott, who was equal to the task on both occasions.
