A-League Men’s: Western Sydney Wanderers overcome Western United
Western Wanderers have dealt Western United’s A-League premiership hopes a major blow after prevailing 2-0 in a meeting between the competition’s most in-form sides. Catch up on all the news from the weekend.
Western Sydney Wanderers dealt Western United’s A-League premiership hopes a huge blow with a 2-0 home win on Sunday night.
In a battle of two of the competition’s in-form teams, it was Wanderers who prevailed at CommBank Stadium to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games and reclaim fourth spot on the ladder after Melbourne Victory had gone ahead of them following a 3-2 win over Wellington on Saturday.
United had gone into Sunday’s match chasing a sixth successive win, but the defeat left them in third spot, six points behind competition leaders Auckland FC and two adrift of second-placed Melbourne City with three rounds of the regular season remaining.
A rare goal from former Socceroos left-back Alex Gersbach gave Wanderers the lead in the stroke of half-time, with the hosts doubling their advantage in the 66th minute when United goalkeeper Matt Sutton fumbled a Gersbach corner into his own net.
“It’s really starting to click at the moment,” Gersbach told Paramount Plus.
“In the second-half we didn’t play that well but we fought really hard. We spoke about it before the game about this simulating a finals game.
“We’ve just got to keep the momentum going.”
United coach John Aloisi was pleased with his side’s performance despite the defeat.
“In the second-half, we were very good,” Aloisi said.
“The ball just didn’t go in. We’ve scored so many goals of late and tonight was one of those nights when the ball didn’t want to go in the back of the net.”
The Wanderers should have gone ahead in the 19th minute following a powerful run from attacking weapon Zac Sapsford.
Having stormed his way into United’s penalty area, Sapsford then laid the ball into the path of unmarked teammate Brandon Borrello.
The Socceroos forward seemed certain to score, but he directed his shot straight at Sutton, who made the save with his feet.
Sutton came to United’s rescue again in the 27th and 28th minutes to deny Sapsford and Nicolas Milanovic.
United’s sole chance of the first-half came in the 34th minute when Japanese striker Hiroshi Ibusuki rose high at the far post to get his head to a corner from Angus Thurgate,
However, Ibusuki failed to hit the target with his header.
Just when it seemed the game would remain scoreless going into half-time, Western Sydney grabbed a deserved lead in the 45th minute through Gersbach, who scored his first goal in 38 A-League appearances.
Ibusuki had chances to equalise in the 63rd and 65th minutes but was foiled on both occasions, before Sutton’s fumble gifted the Wanderers their second goal and secured the win for Western Sydney.
Jets smack Central Coast for six in demolition derby
Newcastle Jets have scored a memorable win in what’s been billed a “demolition derby”, embarrassing Central Coast Mariners 6-0 in a brutally one-sided contest.
Eli Adams bagged a brace as the Jets turned a 2-0 halftime lead into a six-goal thrashing at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Mariners were forced to play 50 minutes after Storm Roux was shown a red card before halftime.
Sydney FC, Auckland, locked up in stalemate
One of the more remarkable double strikes in Sydney FC history wasn’t enough to earn them all three points in their A-League men’s clash with ladder leaders Auckland FC as it finished 2-2 at Allianz Stadium.
Adrian Segecic took his reputation as one of the brightest young talents in Australian football to another level with two sumptuous goals from distance however Sydney’s fight for a finals spot continues after giving up a two-nil advantage.
Auckland, and in particular former Sydney FC coach Steve Corica, will take the point from that position with a four point gap at the top of the table in pursuit of the Premiers Plate in their first season in the competition.
And Sydney were ratherf fortunate not to give up all three points after a late brain fade from young keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares wasn;t punished after he inexplicably passed the ball straight to an Auckland attacker.
SEGECIC STRIKES AGAIN 🚀
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The Sydney FC marksman bags his 11th goal of the campaign with a stunner
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Segecic’s first came just 12 minutes in as he collected the ball inside the right channel, shuffled it over to his venomous left foot and unleashed a bomb from outside the box that swerved inside the post.
His second was nearly a carbon copy, merely 20 minutes later.
Once more he gathered the ball in between the lines and while he assessed his options for a split second the confidence oozing through him meant there was only likely to be one result and that was another purely hit strike from outside the area.
And while Auckland keeper Alex Paulsen may have done better with it, the swerve and fizz that was placed on the football once more, took it past him and in the back of the net for another stunning strike.
It was a double moment of individual brilliance for the Sydney fans to savour.
That joy was diluted somewhat just three minutes later however as Logan Rogerson tapped home a parry from Harrison Devenish-Meares that was placed in his path after a well worked Auckland attack and shot from Marlee Francois.
Devenish-Meares made amends in the second half with a critical stop in the 60th minute, stretching high with his right hand to protect his near post from a certain goal.
However, he failed to prevent the equaliser as Auckland’s pressure told.
Some excellent interplay down the right led to a dangerous cross that Sydney failed to deal with and was eventually struck home by Kiwi international Francis De Vries from the left-hand side of the 18-yard box.
Sydney’s attention now turns to Wednesday night’s semi-final return leg of the Asian Champions League 2 competition as they try and overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg in Singapore against Lion City Sailors.
SEGA MEGA DRIVES
He’s been building as one of the biggest young talents in the A-League for a little while now and Adrian Segecic hammered that home with two thunderous long range drives to lead the Sky Blues to victory.
That it added up to his 12th goal of the season, the equal most in the league, underlines his immense season.
To emerge as that level of an attacking threat at just 20 years of age in a team containing Joe Lolley and Douglas Costa, says even more.
Tony Popovic hasn’t been afraid to throw young A-League talents straight into the mix. The Sydney academy product must surely be on his radar.
CLASSY KIWIS
Auckland F.C have taken the league by storm on the field in their first season and they proved once more that had extended off the field as well.
Boosted by huge home crowds in their maiden campaign, the league leaders showcased the loyalty of their newly formed fanbase with a strong travelling cohort to Sydney.
The away end was packed with a passionate group of supporters that had been planning their voyage to Sydney for some time.
Despite the draw they may just be rewarded with a Premiers Plate trophy at least in their first season.
VICTORY ENDS PHOENIX’S CAMPAIGN
- by Max Hatzoglou
Wellington’s finals hope is officially over after a travelling Melbourne Victory secured a thrilling 3-2 win to jump to fourth spot on the table.
A Paulo Retre thunderbolt into the top-left corner gave the Nixs some hope of a late comeback, trailing by a goal with 15 minutes left.
But it was Victory who held off the late charge to score a third win from their past four games in Wellington on Saturday.
Nishan Velupillay continued his stellar form in his 100th match for Victory with the forward scoring another goal to extend his streak of goals across all competitions to six.
Nikos Vergos scored a remarkable goal from 12 yards to put Victory 3-1 up in the 50th minute. The 29-year-old ran the ball 60 metres after winning it in his defensive half before pulling off the strike for his seventh goal of the season.
NIKOS VERGOS RUNS 70M AND SCORES ONE OF THE GREAT SOLO GOALS 🤯🤯🤯
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That is absolutely extraordinary. Wow.
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In the first half, after Velupillay’s opener in the fourth minute, the Nixs equalised six minutes later with a Corban Piper tap-in, cut back by Kosta Barbarouses.
Zinédine Machach put Victory up just before half time with a header to a vacant back post.
While Victory continue their run of promising attacking play with a 10th goal scored in three games, their defence goes under the microscope with a ninth goal conceded in as many games.
The loss for the Nix’ ends a three-game unbeaten run and it will be their first finals series missed since 2021 as they sit 11th with 24 points.
Meanwhile, Victory are two points behind third-placed Western United.
Phoenix captain Alex Rufer said his side needed to be better defensively in their 11th loss of the season.
“We conceded three very sloppy poor goals,” he said on Sky Sport post-game.
“It’s something that we have not been good at this season and if you give a good team like Melbourne Victory the chances that we gave them, they’re going to punish you.
“Disappointing in that regard but look, we gave it everything, we obviously tried to win the game and it wasn’t to be tonight.”
VELUPILLAY ON FIRE
Velupillay not only scored in the fourth minute but also had a number of other promising moments in his milestone game.
The 23-year-old assisted Machach’s goal just before halftime with a brilliant corner for his third assist of the season and he nearly had a second goal in the 33rd minute.
The Socceroo then almost set up Jordi Valadon for his first A-League goal in the 69th minute which just missed left.
SCORING NIX
The Phoenix continued their scoring ways with a third match in a row with two goals scored.
As the team with the fewest shots taken this season and the second least goals scored (23) heading into the game, it is a positive for the New Zealand outfit to take from the encounter.
INJURY CONCERNS
Ryan Teague’s rough injury run continues following a promising Socceroos debut with the midfielder being substituted in the 56th minute due to a suspected right achilles injury.
While the 23-year-old got back up and continued for 15 minutes of play after going down in the 39th minute, he was clearly not at full fitness and was subbed.
Teague also missed Victory’s last game after pulling up sore from his national debut on March 25.
In another slight worry, Victory forward Reno Piscopo was substituted in the 80th minute after copping a knock to his lower left leg.
Nixs goalscorer Retre also went down with a hamstring injury and was taken off in the 79th minute.
CITY AVOIDS SCARE
- by Ronny Lerner
Melbourne City have survived a huge scare on Friday night at AAMI Park after fighting back from a goal down to beat strugglers Brisbane 3-2 in a thriller and provisionally grab second spot on the A-League Men ladder.
With the game tied up 2-2 late, and City seemingly heading for a calamitous draw against the second-last Roar, the hosts got the game breaker in the 85th minute from the most unlikely source when defender German Ferreyra scored his first goal of the season courtesy of a powerful header at close range from Yonatan Cohen’s corner.
Despite getting a hand to it, Brisbane goalkeeper Matt Acton couldn’t keep it out of his net.
It was a thoroughly deserved win for Melbourne who absolutely dominated the game and ended up with massive advantages in possession (65 per cent), shots on goal (24-3), shots on target (7-2), corners (5-0), passes in opposition half (347-111) and touches in opposition box (35-11).
The result continued City’s marvellous run of form at the right time of the year, which has seen them lose just one of their last eight games, and win their past three.
With just three matches remaining in the regular season, the win also strengthened Melbourne’s bid for a top-two finish, and automatic progression to the semi-finals, as well as qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite.
Meanwhile, the Roar’s lamentable campaign rolls on. With just 11 points to their credit, they still need another eight from their last four matches to avoid their worst ever return (18).
And with 15 defeats now, three more losses will also see Brisbane surpass their all-time worst tally of 17.
ROAR STUN HOSTS
Brisbane shocked the title contenders in the ninth minute when Keegan Jelacic’s perfectly-timed and well-weighted through ball found Asumah Abubakar-Ankra on the left wing.
And with Aziz Behich keeping the Portuguese on side, he sprinted into the box and drilled it through Melbourne City goalkeeper Patrick Beach who probably should’ve done better at his near post, but allowed the ball to travel between his hand and leg.
The goal was initially waved off-side, but after closer inspection from the VAR, it was clear that Abubakar-Ankra was well on.
CITY GET REWARDED
However, after dominating the next 50 minutes and wasting multiple goalscoring opportunities, Melbourne finally equalised just before the hour mark with a magnificent Marco Tilio goal.
Ferreyra’s long ball found Tilio who audaciously controlled it by using his shoulder and head with consecutive volleys, before sprinting past Jack Hingert and then banging it home past Acton from 10 yards in the 57th minute.
And just four minutes later, the hosts took the lead when Max Caputo tucked it home from eight yards. The opportunity arose when Tilio’s strike from just inside the penalty area was blocked by Roar defender Hosine Bility and the rebound off Sam Klein fell perfectly into Caputo’s path.
ROAR SCORE AGAIN
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But just as it looked like Melbourne were cruising to victory, the Roar sent another shockwave through their camp in the 69th minute.
Jelacic’s curling attempt from 19 yards took a wicked deflection and sailed beyond the reach of the desperately diving Beach and into the right side of the net to make it 2-2. The chance was beautifully set up by Jacob Brazete who danced around City’s defenders.
Just minutes later, the hosts had a gilt-edged chance to retake the lead when Behich’s pinpoint cross from the left found Medin Memeti, but the latter’s header from six yards cannoned into the crossbar. However, it mattered little in the end, as Ferreyra came to City’s rescue.
Originally published as A-League Men’s: Western Sydney Wanderers overcome Western United
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