Babbel fumes as Maclaren storms fortress

Welcome to Bankwest Stadium, where Western Sydney start with a bang but fade like smoke.

Melbourne City’s Denis Genreau, left, scuffles with Wanderers players in a fiery A-League clash at Bankwest Stadium Picture: Getty Images

Welcome to Bankwest Stadium, where Western Sydney start with a bang but fade like smoke, then snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat, only to lose anyway.

Sounds like a seesaw, and it was. A pendulum of fire and spite, and a head-turning performance from Kwame Yeboah, whose brace brought his third-placed Wanderers back from the brink with 10 minutes to play but couldn’t quite get them over the line once Jamie Maclaren had his final say.

The City striker scored a brace of his own. He started with a controversial penalty and completed it in injury-time, and with it he notched a new A-League record as the first to score multiple goals in four consecutive games. Sandwiched between was his assist for a Josh Brillante tap-in.

And so City climbed four points clear at the summit and the Wanderers will wonder how they managed to get done over at their impenetrable fortress.

Markus Babbel was irate afterwards, saying to media “do you have two eyes? F***ing have a look” when asked what he thought of referee Chris Beath’s 55th-minute penalty decision and whether Denis Genreau took a dive.

The Wanderers had been 1-0 up since the second minute.

“Everything, it changed the whole game,” Babbel said.

“Before then I never had the feeling they could score a goal … but I promised I would not say anything about the referees.

“I’m very happy with the performance today. The result is not good, but the performance was.”

Tempers flared late in the game after heavy contact by City’s Rostyn Griffiths felled Daniel Georgievski of the Wanderers. Dylan McGowan took issue with the City midfielder’s challenge and he lost his head not for the first time, sparking a melee and a booking for both Griffiths and McGowan.

The Daily Telegraph