When Tony Popovic was appointed as the inaugural coach of Western Sydney Wanderers back in 2012, one of the first players he signed was Tarek Elrich.
And it was his former protégé that came back to haunt him on Sunday, with Elrich’s 95th-minute strike denying Popovic a win in his first return to Western Sydney with his Perth Glory side.
Popovic – who was in charge of the Wanderers for five seasons and guided the club to the ACL title in 2014 – was the main talking point heading into the clash at Spotless Stadium.
But it was Elrich who stole all the headlines as his last-gasp strike halted the Glory juggernaut and added further weight to the Wanderers’ recent resurgence.
“I’m just glad to get the result. It feels like a win,” Elrich admitted to Fox Sports post-match.
“The majority of the games this season we were in Perth’s position but slipped up [late].
“But to come back against a quality team and get a point, it’s better than nothing and it shows we have slightly turned things around.”
And Elrich has been a key figure in the Wanderers’ recent improvement, which now stands at three games without defeat.
With coach Markus Babbel blooding a stack of youngsters from the club’s impressive youth team, the 32-year-old’s experience and maturity has been like gold.
It hasn’t just been his defensive work that has caught the eye, with Elrich’s late strike the second time this month he has found the net.
It’s pretty impressive stuff considering his last goal before this hot-streak came almost two years ago.
But ever the team man, Elrich prefers to focus on what the goal and result means for the side.
“It’s great to get that feeling of getting an equaliser. It’s happened to us against Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne City, you can count a number of games that it’s happened to us,” he said.
“We’ll keep fighting…we’ve really been focusing on it the last month and it’s been showing.”
