The Western Sydney Wanderers NPL 1 side earned a 1-1 draw against 10-man St George City on Saturday night, securing a valuable point as the Red and Black head into the final rounds of the season.
The Western Sydney Wanderers NPL 1 side claimed a valuable point on Saturday night against finals-chasing St George City, who were reduced to ten men in the first half after striker Marc McNulty was shown a red card.
The Wanderers welcomed back Edmun Haddad into the starting side, and with Max Hately retaining his starting spot, this meant that Alaat Abdul-Rahman remained in wide midfield.
Despite early dominance in possession, it was the Wanderers who struck first. After Haddad’s early volley and a saved effort from Hately, the latter broke the deadlock, heading in Lual’s initial strike past Jack Kenny to give the Wanderers the lead inside half an hour.
Abdul-Rahman had the chance to double the Wanderers lead but his shot was saved by Kenny. Moments later, St George City’s McNulty would be given a red card following an altercation with Ricky Fransen in back play.
Despite the disadvantage, St George City would find the equaliser shortly after the break as Dom Cox would pick out Solomon Vaiika to equalise, albeit against the run of play.
Following the equaliser, St George City, being aware of the one man disadvantage, would look to set up in a defensive shape as they looked to protect the scoreline.
Nicholas Badolato would attempt to strike the ball from distance as the midfielder was left with space against the sitting defence.
Lual would then look to have given the Wanderers the lead, but his shot was blocked on the line by his own player. Minutes Later, the Red and Black would slice the opposition defence open with a combination play between substitutes Lachlan Henderson and Tristan Arrarte, although the strike from Abdul-Rahman was saved by Kenny.
Peter Kekeris almost gave the visitors the lead inside the final ten minutes, but the determination of Fransen denied the striker of the winner as a well timed tackle blocked the strike from close range.
The draw sees the Wanderers go level with the Central Coast Mariners, who have a game in hand against Marconi to be played. Mount Druitt’s victory over Wollongong makes the Wanderers next fixture against Blacktown a must win if they are to avoid relegation.
