Roly Bonevacia delivered one of his best performances for Western Sydney Wanderers in their 3-1 upset of Adelaide United on Saturday.
Wanderers, 2-0 winners over Central Coast Mariners a week earlier, headed to South Australia seeking to record back-to-back Hyundai A-League victories for the first time since February 2018.
In midfielder Bonevacia, they benefitted from a player capable of making a game-changing impact even amid Adelaide’s unchallenged accrual of 70 per cent possession.
Yet it was via a set of circumstances seemingly not conducive to success that Western Sydney perhaps inadvertently unshackled the catalyst of their victory.
Markus Babbel’s men were robbed of attackers Kwame Yeboah and Jaushua Sotirio due to injury, while playmaker Alexander Baumjohann was fit enough only to occupy a spot among the substitutes.
Their absences prompted the German to shift Bonevacia from the wing to the number 10 position, where his pace, positivity and ability to receive the ball and turn forward came to the fore.
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The ex-Netherlands youth international began the match by whipping in an expert free-kick from which Oriol Riera was able to break a scoring duck dating back to Boxing Day.
Adelaide equalised before the interval but the second half, a time when most onlookers expected the home side to thrive, belonged to Bonevacia.
He restored Western Sydney’s lead by gambling on a left-footed shot that deflected in off Ryan Strain and then, 19 minutes from time, assisted Abraham Majok in making the points safe, dinking a delightful pass through for the forward to coolly convert.
For Bonevacia the result and the performance were reflective of the Wanderers’ time to step up this season.
“It was about time to be honest. A few wins are good to have and it’s a good feeling for the boys,” said Bonevacia to FOX SPORTS.
“It’s important for us to not throw away the season and go through the motions, we still fight and we still need to win games.
“It has been a tough a season, we had a few good games before but we couldn’t score or we kept conceding goals.
“I should have scored two tonight, but at least we won which is the most important thing.”
Bonevacia finished an inspiring outing as just the eighth Wanderers player to have been directly involved in three goals in a Hyundai A-League game, his masterful display a timely reminder of the unique talent the club have among their ranks.
