The Western Sydney Wanderers held off a late fightback from Brisbane City to secure a 2-1 win in the Australia Cup Round of 32 last night.
Two early goals did the damage, as a rare strike from Gab Cleur and a goal for Alex Badolato in the first seven minutes set the Wanderers up for success, despite a goal from Brisbane’s Noah Maieroni late in the second half.
Alen Stajcic selected a blend of youth and experience in his first match as coach, with the likes of Zac Sapsford and Anthony Pantazopoulos starting alongside Josh Brillante and Brandon Borrello.
Oscar Priestman also started in midfield, and there was plenty of youth on the bench including Dylan Scicluna, Aydan Hammond and Nathan Barrie.
It was one of the wise heads who opened the scoring after just four minutes, when Nicolas Milanovic’s header from a corner was parried into the path of Cleur, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net for his first goal in Red and Black.
It was more of the same just three minutes later as Flannery again was only able to push Milanovic’s cross towards Badolato, and he easily scored with a first-time effort with virtually an open goal.
Western Sydney had several chances to add to their lead through Milanovic, Sapsford and Alex Bonetig, but all failed to hit the target with their efforts as the rustiness showed within the squad in their first game for months.
Sapsford forced Flannery into another save just before half-time with a good header from a corner.
Oscar Priestman almost scored seconds after the restart with a wicked volley, but it flashed wide of the goal.
The Wanderers controlled possession for much of the match, but their final ball and connection in attack was missing at crucial moments, the side needing to find their synergy again after a long period away.
Milanovic in particular looked dangerous but didn’t have his shooting boots on, missing the target with a few of his efforts on goal.
These issues became more telling as the second half wore on and the Wanderers were looking for a goal to put the game to bed, even the introduction of Hammond and Marcus Antonsson from the bench.
As the Wanderers continued to struggle to kill off the game, there was always the risk Brisbane could pull a goal back against the run of play, and they did just that in the 78th minute.
Failed attempts to clear the ball led to Maieroni having space in the box, and his shot found the bottom corner, albeit with the help of a massive deflection off Cleur that left Lawrence Thomas stranded.
The home side were emboldened and began to push forward for an unlikely equaliser, and the game became a more open affair with both sides having chances towards the end.
Hammond forced a great save from Flannery as stoppage time approached, before Thomas then matched his opposite number with a brilliant reaction save to deny an almost certain equaliser in the first minute of added time.
The Wanderers were able to see the game out, and also gave senior debuts to Academy prospects Awan Lual and Jesse Cameron.
Whilst it was a gritty win in the end, the Alen Stajic era in Wanderland has started with a win and with no major injury concerns, with the team now looking ahead to the Round of 16, which will be played at the end of the month.
