Josep Gombau’s ‘project’ ends as Western Sydney Wanders miss finals following loss to Adelaide
THE Wanderers’ “project” is over, at least for this season, and the day of reckoning is surely close to hand.
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THE Wanderers’ “project” is over, at least for this season, and the day of reckoning is surely close to hand.
Western Sydney are out of the A-League finals after a shambolic 3-2 defeat at home to Adelaide that ended their season with a whimper.
Josep Gombau’s first season at the club was ended almost mercifully on a breathless, see-sawing night at ANZ Stadium that offered a microcosm of Western Sydney’s whole season, from the good and the bad to the bewildering.
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Now the Wanderers hierarchy must decide whether to stick with Gombau’s self-described “project” on the basis of deeply unconvincing evidence from the five and a half months so far which has taken the team from fourth to seventh.
“It’s a tough day, very disappointing,” Gombau said. “We are out of the competition. The game was equal, very open, and if we had scored the penalty just before halftime it would have given us a lot of confidence.
“We know Adelaide are a good side but after the red card (to Keanu Baccus), and knowing we needed to win, it was very difficult.”
Needing a win for the home side to progress, by halftime alone there were four goals, Western Sydney had two penalties and missed one of them, putting their supporters through a familiar wringer.
Western Sydney were granted the ideal start, gifted a penalty in the 13th minute when Paul Izzo spilled a speculative shot from Alvaro Cejudo and clumsily tripped Oriol Riera.
The Spaniard squeezed in the penalty, but no game is safe with the Wanderers rearguard in such a generous mood. Jack Clisby’s deployment as a centreback was always questionable, and the defender misjudged a long ball horribly, leaving Papa Diawarra through on goal. With a majestic flick of his right boot, the striker buried the chance.
When Adelaide went ahead on 39 minutes the scenario looked bleak for the Wanderers. Diawarra retrieved the ball in the corner and fed Nathan Konstandopoulos to begin a mazy dribble into the box. Finally his progress was halted, but Daniel Adlung swept in a piledriver from 20m.
Back came the Wanderers in giddy fashion, Marcelo Carrusca heading in from close range via Raul Lorente’s excellent cross.
Moments later the home side had another penalty, awarded in slow motion thanks to the intervention of the VAR after Ersan Gulum had discreetly swept the leg of Chris Ikonomidis from under him. But this time Izzo leapt to palm away Riera’s spotkick, and the tension grew.
Just past the hour it went up yet another level, thanks to another VAR intervention. When Keanu Baccus tangled with Johan Absalonsen it looked innocuous, but referee Kris Griffiths Jones was persuaded to award Baccus with a red card.
Few others in the stadium shared the VAR’s certainty, as the chorus of boos underlined, though subsequent images of an ugly weal on Absalonsen’s leg suggested Baccus had made considerable contact.
Finally came the coup de grace, as Adelaide swept upfield to score. Gombau had taken off Clisby to send on Brendon Santalab in search of the win, and Adelaide broke right through the middle, Nikola Mileusnic crossing low for Ryan Kitto to sweep home.