A 90th minute equaliser from Jarrod Carluccio has seen the Western Sydney Wanderers NPL side snatch a 2-2 draw at home against APIA Leichhardt FC.
Carluccio’s second goal of the season came after APIA had come from behind to take the lead in the second half, with the Wanderers having a first half lead through an Alessandro Lopane wonder goal.
The Wanderers were keen to make amends for a 5-1 defeat last round, and their defence was much more solid in the first half, thanks in large part to the return of Daniel Wilmering and Aidan Simmons. There were few chances for either side for much of the opening half until the Wanderers had a corner in the 37th minute.
Whilst APIA cleared the initial delivery, they were slow to close Lopane down when he received the ball on the edge of the box, and they were punished when he unleashed a beauty of a strike with his right foot that curled into the top corner.
Staring down the barrel of their first defeat all season, APIA came out firing in the second half, and despite the Wanderers having the first chance of the half through a Marcus Younis header, APIA then began to grow into the game.
They were able to level the scores in the 58th minute through Diego Celis, who tapped home a ground cross from close range. This goal gave them confidence and Jack Warshawsky was forced to make a brilliant diving save to deny Celis scoring a double.
The reprieve was brief, though, as Franco Farinella scored just two minutes later to put the away side in front.
Desperate to avoid another defeat, the Wanderers upped the intensity in the last five minutes and had chances through Teng Kuol and Carluccio, whose shot went agonisingly past the post in the 89th minute.
Carluccio had another chance just a minute later when Piol played him through, and he made no mistake this time, as he cut past a defender and poked the ball home to secure a valuable point for the young Wanderers.
