Wanderers strike at the death to hold Perth Glory to a draw

The Wanderers snatched a last-gasp equaliser to hold Perth Glory to a draw at Spotless Stadium.

Perth goalkeeper Liam Reddy is beaten in the final moments by a long-range effort from Tarek Elrich of the Wanderers at Spotless Stadium. Picture: AAP

It wasn’t the result they wanted, but Perth Glory remain within touching distance of the Premiers Plate after Western Sydney snatched a 1-1 draw with the last kick of the game at Spotless Stadium.

With the West Australians seemingly headed for all three points, Wanderers captain Tarek Elrich took it upon himself to strike from outside the box that snuck inside the right post to continue his team’s resurgence of recent weeks.

Perth will only have themselves to blame for not securing the win, having dominated the first half and looked fairly comfortable in the second, though the result saw them stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games.

It means the gap between Perth and second-placed Sydney FC has been reduced to eight points after the Sky Blues beat Wellington Phoenix on Saturday night.

Perth had looked the goods last night, with the impressive Chris Ikonomidis giving them the lead after 24 minutes, but the Wanderers somehow managed to stay in the game and were rewarded in the dying seconds.

It was a good way for Western Sydney to say a not so fond farewell to Spotless Stadium.

Having been forced to play the majority of their games there while the new stadium at Parramatta was being built, they never embraced it as a home ground and it was never more evident than last night with a terrible turnout optimistically put at 7181.

What made it worse was the fact the club’s main supporter group, the Red and Black Bloc (RBB), have decided not to provide any active support for the rest of the club’s home games around the Sydney Olympic Park region for the rest of the season.

The RBB have been in a constant battle with club management with the over policing of fans in the Sydney Olympic Park region and the club’s “new stadium will fix everything approach”.

They were reportedly at the game but their lack of involvement with their singing and chanting made for a terrible atmosphere.

Glory coach Tony Popovic, who took the Wanderers to a Premiers Plate and an Asian Champions League title before leaving at the start of last season, was given an easy time from the home fans.

He was understandably disappointed to have given away two points at the death, but happy his side continued their good form away from home.

“We controlled large parts of the first half and were not really in any danger and then we had a couple of chances in the second half to put the game away,” Popovic said.

“But the Wanderers kept coming and coming and put the pressure on us and we did not keep hold of the ball as well as we should have, though they didn’t really create any chances.

“In the end we conceded a soft goal and showed that if we are not at our best then anything can happen.”