Two late goals to Graham Dorrans and Kwame Yeboah helped Western Sydney Wanderers break down a stubborn Melbourne Victory and record a 2-0 win at Bankwest Stadium on Wednesday night.
A rash challenge on Bernie Ibini from Victory substitute Rudy Gestede handed Dorrans the spot kick which put the Wanderers ahead with 20 less than minutes to play and Yeboah sealed all three points for the hosts in the 88th minute to ensure Carl Robinson’s side extended their unbeaten streak to six games.
Victory needed to lift after losing 5-2 to Brisbane Roar on the weekend and the initial signs were promising as Grant Brebner’s side dug in against the Wanderers, and a hotly-contested first half ensued.
Mark Natta wasted the first clear-cut chance of the opening stanza heading a Dorrans cross wide, before Birkan Kirdar lashed a long-range strike at Daniel Margush, which was comfortably tipped away.
Dorrans collected Marco Rojas with a flailing boot in the first half which sent the Victory speedster to hospital with facial lacerations; it was the third instance of spilt blood throughout the game with Victory teammates Nick Ansell and Leigh Broxham both requiring attention for facial cuts throughout the hard-fought fixture.
With scores locked at 0-0 at the hour mark Brebner turned to Gestede off his bench to probe for a winning goal. But Gestede’s return to action after a three-match absence soon turned sour when the Benin international collected Wanderers substitute Ibini’s face with his boot in Victory’s defensive box to give the hosts a penalty.
Dorrans stepped forward and curled the spot kick past Max Crocombe to give the Wanderer the lead, giving Jake Brimmer an earful in the aftermath in a sign of the intensity brewing on the field throughout the game.
After winning his side the spot kick to go ahead Ibini went on to set up the sealing Wanderers goal, this time teeing up fellow substitute Kwame Yeboah for his first goal of the campaign.
The attacking pair set off on a counter attack in tandem and Ibini slid Yeboah in to thunder a strike under Crocombe and into the net to wrap up all three points for the Wanderers, whilst condemning the Victory to their fourth loss of the campaign.
