VAR penalty gives Wanderers close 2-1 victory over the Mariners
Football has finally landed at Bankwest Stadium but Western Sydney Wanderers will need to do more to inspire their fans after a stuttering 2-1 victory over Central Coast.
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THE Wanderers are off to a winning start, but Markus Babbel’s side will need to find rapid improvement to build on a fortuitous 2-1 defeat of the Mariners at Bankwest Stadium.
The homecoming to their shiny new stadium was triumphant, but only thanks to a penalty awarded via a VAR check and converted more than four minutes after the ball struck Dylan Fox’s hand in his own penalty area.
The Mariners will rue several missed chances in the second half, after taking the lead through Milan Duric’s first-half drive but falling asleep to concede an equaliser to Duke just before halftime.
A crowd of 17,091 braved the drizzle to commemorate Western Sydney’s homecoming after three miserable years as nomads, and were rewarded with what was only Western Sydney’s second opening-round win in their history.
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VAR
To say their winner came as a relief was an understatement though. Mariners centreback Dylan Fox must have thought he’d got away with Pirmin Schwegler’s header across goal flicking off his hand, as play went on and on.
But so did the VAR check, and three minutes after the handball, referee Alireza Faghani finally gave the penalty. The delay was infuriating, but Duke made light of it.
“I don’t know how that handball can be seen as intentional,” fumed Mariners boss Alen Stajcic.
MAJEWSKI IS MISSED
The fact that both goals for the Wanderers came from set pieces said everything from a display with an encouraging tempo in the first half, but soured in the second half by poor passes and disjointed movement.
The injury to playmaker Radoslaw Majewski has blown a hole in the plans of Babbel, and Western Sydney urgently need to sign a creative type. “We’re looking but it’s not easy to find someone who wants to come here,” said Babbel. “We have to replace quality with quality.”
There equaliser was opportunistic — Schwegler’s quick corner flicked home by Duke loitering short of the near post — but set piece goals alone won’t win the league.
ALEX IN ISOLATION
Part of Western Sydney’s malaise was the lack of service to ex-Bundesliga Golden Boot Alex Meier. The German looked unfit, but Babbel urgently needs to locate the right supply lines to allow him to thrive.
Losing Bruce Kamau and Kwame Yeboah to injury hardly helped, and Tarek Elrich is likely to be out for weeks with a hamstring injury.
MARINERS’ MISERY GOES ON
Central Coast looked good value for a point and could have stolen more had Jordan Murray shown more composure when clear on goal. Daniel Lopar saved that, and made two more sharp stops in the dying seconds. “That’s two games in a row where we’ve played the better football but come away with nothing,” said Stajcic.
WANDERLAND WAS THE WINNER
Certainly the game was more entertaining than the Wanderers’ first ever game at Parramatta Stadium against the same opponents seven years ago, and the atmosphere was reasonable in a stadium just over half full.
In the derby a fortnight hence, it should fairly hum.
Originally published as VAR penalty gives Wanderers close 2-1 victory over the Mariners