Western Sydney fire into finals with comeback win, securing a home elimination final
Western Sydney Wanderers secured a home elimination final against Melbourne Victory after a come-from-behind win over Macarthur FC on Saturday night. Read all of Saturday’s A-League action.
Western Sydney Wanderers secured hosting rights for next weekend’s A-League elimination final against Melbourne Victory with a 3-1 win over Macarthur FC on Saturday night.
Following earlier victories to Melbourne City and Western United, a do-or-die meeting between the Wanderers and Victory in the opening weekend of the finals series was assured.
All that remained was to determine who would host the match.
Anything less than a Wanderers win would have given Victory hope of overtaking them and claiming fourth spot on the ladder by beating Newcastle on Sunday at AAMI Park.
However, the Wanderers sealed fourth place and an elimination final at CommBank Stadium by opening up a four-point gap over the fifth-placed Victory, after fighting back from a goal down to beat the Bulls at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
The win extended Western Sydney’s unbeaten run to 12 games heading into the finals series.
“It’s a great feeling … and it’s great to have a home final,” Wanderers attacker Zac Sapsford told Network 10.
“Every week, we want to continue this momentum, especially now going into the finals.
For our fans, I know they’ve waited a long time for something special and we’re just trying to provide that for them.
We back ourselves against the Victory. We think we can go all the way.”
For the Bulls, their season is over, with Macarthur finishing eighth, five points outside the top six.
It looked more promising earlier for the Bulls, who went ahead in just the fourth minute through Croatian winger Marin Jakolis.
Fed by striker Harrison Sawyer, Jakolis slid the ball into an empty net after Wanderers goalkeeper and captain Lawrence Thomas was caught in no-man’s land outside his penalty area in a failed attempt to reach Sawyer’s pass first.
The goal was Jakolis’ 10th of the season, making him just the fourth player in A-League history to record double figures in both goals and assists in a single campaign.
The Wanderers drew level 17 minutes later through Bulgarian international Bozhidar Kraev, who scored his eighth goal of the season, netting from close range after getting to a low cross from Sapsford.
Western Sydney then upped the ante, taking the lead in the 55th minute through defender Anthony Pantezopolous, who headed home a corner from Josh Brillante.
Substitute Marcus Antonsson sealed the win in the 73rd minute with his seventh goal of the season.
A-League officials will confirm on Sunday the schedule for next weekend’s elimination finals. The other matchup will be between third-placed Western United and sixth-placed Adelaide United, after Sydney FC failed to finish in the top six following an embarrassing 5-1 loss to Melbourne City.
Auckland stumble against Western United as Corcia eyes finals reset
– Thomas Smith
Steve Corica is focused on bringing his team “back down to earth” after Auckland FC ended their regular season with a 4-2 defeat to bogey side Western United.
Still showing signs of a hangover from last weekend’s Premiers Plate celebrations, the Black Knights were off the pace at Ironbark Fields, conceding twice in five first-half minutes as Michael Ruhs and Noah Botic put the 2022 champions in control.
Despite second-half goals from substitutes Neyder Moreno and Jesse Randall, Auckland never looked like reaching the heights that made their debut A-League campaign so impressive. Angus Thurgate and Oliver Lavale also found the net for the hosts, sealing Auckland’s second loss in three games to Western — and just their third in 26 matches.
Still, the two-time Grand Final-winning coach wasn’t overly downbeat post-match.
Instead, Corica said his focus would be on regrounding his squad while they await confirmation of their semi-final opponent from the Elimination Finals.
“We’ve got a couple of weeks to prepare for our next match. We don’t know who it’s going to be yet, so the focus is on us — just coming back down to earth a little bit and returning to the basics,” Corica said.
“What’s worked for us this season is what we need to go back to. That’s the message: work hard with and without the ball, and make sure everyone’s doing their job properly.
“It’s going to be another great challenge in our first season. I’m really proud of what the players have achieved so far — but we don’t want it to end here.”
One source of comfort for Corica is that Western won’t be their opponent for now. United’s victory, a club-record fifth straight, locked them into third place, avoiding Auckland until a potential Grand Final rematch. Their finals campaign begins by hosting sixth-placed Adelaide United.
With the path clearer for John Aloisi’s men, the Western boss revealed that preparation for Carl Veart’s side had already started before Adelaide were confirmed as finalists — following Sydney FC’s 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Melbourne Victory.
“I was speaking to our analysts yesterday. We already had in mind the teams we could face,” Aloisi said.
“The good thing is we’ve played most of those sides recently. Adelaide wasn’t that long ago, and we know the threats they pose.
“Carl’s made finals again, and with him not returning next year, I’m sure he’ll want to go out on a high.
“It’s probably been a strange couple of weeks for them, waiting to see if they’d make it, but now we can lock in and make sure we’re ready.”
Western United’s finals dream lives on with statement win
– Thomas Smith
Western United will host Adelaide United in the A-League Men’s Elimination Final after a well-deserved win over Premiers Auckland FC sealed a third-place finish on the regular season ladder.
John Aloisi’s side started round 29 still in contention for second spot and qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite, but this and the seven-figure cash injection went to frontrunners Melbourne City, who scored thrice in the first half on their way to beating Sydney FC 5-1 at AAMI Park.
News of such an outcome – which kept Adelaide United in sixth, at Sydney’s expense, and ended the Reds’ week-long limbo – was running its course when Western got underway, not that it dented their ambition to rank as high as possible.
18th and 23rd-minute goals from frontmen Michael Ruhs and Noah Botic stunned the visitors, and the Black Knight’s hopes of a serious comeback were ended swiftly after the restart thanks to Angus Thurgate’s first counter since round one.
A response from Auckland’s interval introduction Neyder Moreno, followed by Jesse Randall’s stoppage-time goal made for a momentarily nervy conclusion until Oliver Lavale converted from a few of yards out at the death.
FIVE-MINUTE FLURRY FIXES THIRD
The first-half goalscoring was bundled into an attacking blitz as the opening period approached its midpoint.
Marlee Francois’ loose touch, when Auckland looked to build from deep, was poached by Botic, who instinctively guided the ball square where Ruhs loitered. Still with work to do, he determinedly bustled through an unusually feeble tackle from Dan Hall before swapping power for placement to pick out the bottom corner.
Provider then turned goalscorer to net from the game’s first corner. An inswinger from captain Ben Garuccio – marking his 200th A-League appearance with a fifth assist of the season – was on the money for Botic to head home in a densely-populated goalmouth.
FRIDAY FEELING EXTENDS INTO SATURDAY
There was subtext behind the Ironbark Fields DJ playing the Bee Gees’ hit Stayin’ Alive pre-match after Western supporters have endured a heart-stopping week.
Having seen their club slapped with a three-window transfer embargo on Thursday, the gathering storm clouds were relievingly lifted within 24 hours when KAM Sports, via its subsidiary KAM Melbourne, outlaid a reported $70 million -$100 million for a controlling stake in United and its parent company, breathing new life into the organisation.
Chairman Jason Sourasis told Paramount+ at halftime: “It has been 12 months in the making.”
And he would have returned to his seat just in time to see Thurgate, profiting from a straining Nando Pijnaker’s failed clearance, keeping his shot low to beat an exposed Alex Paulsen from close range after 49 minutes.
NEXT UP: HAMSTRING ADELAIDE
The benefit of facing the finals series’ lowest-ranked team next weekend comes with the bonus of Adelaide being light of golden boot gun Archie Goodwin.
He is set to be sidelined for at least a month with a hamstring injury, ruling him out of the elimination showdown that Western are confident can be staged at their 5,000-capacity home in Tarneit.
Heartbreak ending to Sydney FC season.
– Ronny Lerner
Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay could not hide his disappointment after his team’s unceremonious dumping from the A-League finals race at the hands of a red-hot Melbourne City at AAMI Park on Saturday evening.
The Sky Blues only needed a draw in their final game to qualify for the top six, but instead saved their worst performance of the season for last as they were hammered 5-1.
Sydney was particularly horrendous down back as Melbourne found themselves regularly cutting a path through the Sky Blues’ defence with minimal fuss.
“It comes down to capabilities and in those moments of being able to defend those moments,” Talay said.
Young defender Alexandar Popovic struggled in particular, playing a role in three of City’s five goals.
“Players can have bad games at times,” Popovic said.
“You don’t want them to have them at the big moments but these things happen.
“They’re not robots, they’re humans, there’s going to be inconsistency at times.
“I think this evening probably wasn’t his greatest performance, but there’s a lot of learning moments for him from the game.”
Making Sydney’s failure to make the finals even more agonising was the fact that they only needed one point from their final two games, yet failed both times.
“Unfortunately we didn’t do it and if you look at the performance tonight, I don’t think it was good enough to play finals football,” Talay said.
“This year’s been quite challenging obviously playing in both (local and continental) competitions. It’s probably taken a lot of strain on the players as well.
“I think sometimes I believe lack of quality in certain parts of the park that have hindered us and hurt us.”
As crushing as the failure to make the finals was, Talay took a philosophical approach.
“Life goes on. People get buried, people mourn for a week and then people have to get on with their lives and that’s something that we need to do as well,” Talay said.
One of the bright spots of the season was 20-year-old Adrian Segecic who scored an equal league-high 13 goals heading into Sunday’s matches, and Talay believed the young star was ready for a move abroad.
“We definitely want to keep Adrian, but I think the season that he’s had and what he’s produced this year I think for him personally it’s a great opportunity to have an opportunity to go overseas if that comes to fruition for him,” Talay said.
The Sydney FC coach said a central defender was a priority for the club next season and that the make-up of the squad was still up in the air.
“There’s still players coming off contract, there’s still discussions to be had and there has been discussions with certain players and I’m sure that’ll all come to fruition in the upcoming weeks,” he said.
No early celebrations for Melbourne City
-Ronny Lerner
While Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar was thrilled with his team securing second spot on the A-League ladder, he insisted the time for congratulating themselves had not yet arrived.
Melbourne’s 5-1 rout of Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Saturday evening saw them automatically progress to the semi-finals in a fortnight’s time and earn qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite.
City will face either Western United or Adelaide United in the semis.
“It’s too early for the pat on the back,” Vidmar said.
“We’ve done an extraordinary job up to this point but we’ve got to enjoy it, keep our feet on the ground and we’ve got a fair bit of work still to do to get to where we want to get.”
Vidmar was especially proud of his team’s effort given the raft of significant injuries to key players they had to cope with throughout the campaign.
“Really pleased for the boys,” he said.
“They’ve gone through some challenges this year. The whole group has, to be honest.
“Guys have stepped in and done a great job and we’ve got very good leaders here that have kept things together in the difficult moments.
“Certainly I feel like we got what we deserved through the course of the year.”
Vidmar was excited by the prospect of returning to Asia as well.
“Brilliant for the club, brilliant for the players, it’s a great competition, I love the competition,” he said.
City head into the finals with a head of steam, undefeated in their last six games, including four wins.
While Vidmar would’ve preferred to keep playing next week to continue their momentum, instead of having the week’s rest, he conceded the break would help some of his injured stars to get fit.
“Leading up to this game, we already had three or four really tough games against tough opposition. Finals-like football. So that made us really sharp up to this point,” he said.
“It’ll also help guys like Steve Ugarkovic, Sammy Souprayen have an opportunity to get themselves training again with the group.”
Ugarkovic (hamstring) is more of a chance to feature in the semi-final than Souprayen (calf), while Nathaniel Atkinson picked up a calf issue against Sydney and could be in doubt.
Vidmar is expecting a hard-fought battle over two legs against either Western or Adelaide.
“It doesn’t matter who you play to be honest because, as we’ve seen, the season that has just passed us, it’s been so tight and anyone can beat anyone on any given day,” Vidmar said.
“And you’ve really got to be at your very best to win and I think whoever wins it (the title) this year is certainly going to deserve it because it’s a tough competition.”
A by-product of City’s win meant that Vidmar gave his old club Adelaide a lifeline.
Sydney needed a draw to take sixth spot away from the Reds, but fell well short of that goal.
“I haven’t checked my phone yet,” Vidmar laughed when asked if anyone from the Adelaide camp had been in touch.
“So maybe (Reds coach) Carl (Veart).”
The outgoing Adelaide coach’s career at the club will now be extended by a week at least as they travel to face Western in an elimination final.
Statement made: Ruthless City send Sydney crashing out
-Ronny Lerner
Melbourne City have made a massive statement on the eve of the A-League Men finals with a thumping 5-1 defeat of a listless Sydney FC in their final game of the season at AAMI Park on Saturday evening.
The comprehensive result saw Melbourne secure second place on the ladder, meaning they automatically progress to the semi-finals in a fortnight’s time and earn qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite. They head into the finals with a head of steam, undefeated in their last six games, including four wins.
Meanwhile, the Sky Blues have now been unceremoniously knocked out of the finals race at the final hurdle. All they had to do was earn a point from one of their final two matches, but back-to-back losses has enabled Adelaide United to pinch the final top six spot and City have now won their last eight games against Sydney at AAMI Park.
One would be forgiven for thinking that Sydney didn’t have a spot in the finals on the line given their horrendous performance. But with so much at stake, the Sky Blues’ put on a calamitous defending display.
Aziz Behich got the party started for City in the fifth minute when he hammered home a ripper from 16 yards out at Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares’ near side.
The opportunity arose after Marco Tilio’s corner was swatted away by Devenish-Meares straight to Behich who was all by himself and brought it down with supreme control. It was a terrible error by the Sky Blues custodian and shocking defending by the visitors to leave Behich so free.
It was just Behich’s third career A-League goal and first of the season. It was also his first goal in this competition in 11 years after he spent a decade playing in the Netherlands, Turkey and Scotland.
City doubled their lead in the 26th minute when Max Caputo accepted a lovely Tilio pass before going on a brilliant run down the left, and after turning Alexandar Popovic inside out deep in the box, he threaded it through a tiny gap underneath Devenish-Meares again at his near side after a lame defensive attempt from Jordan Courtney-Perkins too.
And nine minutes later, after playing a hand in the first two goals, Tilio added his name to the scorers’ sheet to put Melbourne 3-0 up when he got on the end of a beautiful Nathaniel Atkinson cross, brushed aside Popovic with far too much ease, and while off balance, still managed to shoot it past Devenish-Meares from close range.
Devenish-Meares’ forgettable night came to an end in the 52nd minute when he was subbed out with an apparent groin injury, and replaced by departing club legend Andrew Redmayne for his final game with Sydney.
REGULAR TRANSMISSION RESUMES
But the procession continued in the 58th minute when Andreas Kuen easily won the ball from Popovic who again was not strong enough in the contest. The Austrian then waltzed into the box and after his first strike was blocked by Courtney-Perkins, the rebound fortuitously went straight back to Kuen who drilled it home from 10 yards out past a farcical Sydney backline.
SYDNEY GET ONE BACK
The Sky Blues got a consolation prize in the 66th minute when Diego Costa’s menacing ball into the area was tucked home by a looping header from Patryk Klimala from 12 yards out, but the damage had been well and truly done by then.
MEMETI PUTS ICING ON CAKE
Medin Memeti completed the rout in the fifth minute of stoppage time when he easily evaded Will Kennedy and rifled it into the back of the net from 15 yards out.
CITY DICTATE TERMS
It was a dominant display from City who had 75 per cent possession in the opening 25 minutes and finished the game with massive advantages in total shots (21-9), shots on target (9-4) and touches in opposition box (28-15).
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