Marquee man Oriol Riera is on the verge of etching his name into the Wanderers record books.
Marquee man Oriol Riera is on the verge of etching his name into the Wanderers record books.
You can get your tickets to Saturday’s match against Wellington here.
In the Hyundai A-League, the arrival of a foreign striker usually brings about a high degree of caution among fans.
For history tells us that for every successful leading man, there’s usually more than a couple who fail to meet the mark.
And while there’s still plenty of football left to play this season, it would be fair to say that Wanderers striker Oriol Riera’s debut tilt in Australia has been a fruitful one.
Should he find the net against Wellington for what would be his 17th goal of the season, Riera will break the Wanderers record for the most goals scored in a single season across all competitions.
It’s a record Riera currently holds alongside Wanderers all-time top scorer Brendon Santalab who also netted 16 goals in a memorable campaign last season.
Before Santalab’s heroics, it was a record that had stood untouched for five seasons and as such it’ll be no small achievement if Riera can reach the milestone on Saturday night.
Arriving in the off season from Spanish La Liga side Deportivo La Coruña, there were big expectations of Riera, a Barcelona youth-product who played alongside the likes of Messi, Cesc Fabregas and Pique growing up.
The striker was also coming off the back of a La Liga season where had netted twice against UEFA Champions League holders Real Madrid.
After immediately showing glimpses of his quality in pre-season, Riera’s career in Australia got off to the best possible start when he scored a last-gasp extra-time winner on debut in the Westfield FFA Cup against Wellington Phoenix.
He’d go on to score three further goals in the competition before again finding the net in his Hyundai A-League debut in the 2-1 win over Perth Glory back in Round 1 at Spotless. Since then, it’s been business as usual for the industrious number 9, who is showing his best form at just the right time, having scored six goals in his last six matches.
Riera also opened the scoring the last time the Wanderers met the Phoenix in a 4-0 win last month.
If the Wanderers are to kick- on this season and make a play for silverware, they’ll certainly need their marquee man to continue ring on all cylinders.
