Perth Glory striker Andy Keogh had a night to remember in a 5-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park on Sunday night, scoring four times to help his side take a step closer toward stealing an unlikely place in the Finals Series.
Perth Glory striker Andy Keogh had a night to remember in a 5-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at HBF Park on Sunday night, scoring four times to help his side take a step closer toward stealing an unlikely place in the Finals Series.
Keogh came into the contest without a goal to his name in the 2020/21 A-League season but put an end to his barren run in truly remarkable circumstances, scoring twice on either side of half time to seal Perth’s impressive win against a side with a similar desperation to sneak into the top six by the season’s end.
Glory took the lead in the fifth minute as Keogh headed a precise cross from Kosuke Ota off the left flank home to start the party in Perth.
The Glory forward found the back of the net for the second time in the first half with a Goal of the Season contender, lashing a volley from just beyond the centre circle to catch Daniel Margush off his line, looping the Wanderers ‘keeper and finding the back of the net to get the home crowd rocking.
Keogh’s jaw-dropping second sent him on the way to wrapping up his hat-trick from the penalty spot – but not before Bruce Kamau made things interesting in the 49th minute with a wonder-goal of his own, thumping a long-range strike off the post and in to make it 2-1 early in the second half.
Keogh restored Perth’s buffer to two with a neatly-placed penalty after Patrick Ziegler was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box – and after nabbing his third on 66 minutes he got in on the action once more by tapping home a heavily deflected Chris Ikonomidis cross to make it 4-1 at HBF Park with less than 20 minutes to play.
Glory head coach Richard Garcia brought Joel Chianese off his bench and the substitute left his mark with a sliding finish past Margush deep into stoppage time to ensure Perth’s lead extended to four goals at the full-time whistle, as the home side clinched a 5-1 win at HBF Park.
The result sent Glory into ninth on the A-League table, just three points behind Brisbane Roar in sixth to ensure the West Australian side remain well and truly in the hunt for a place in the top six.
