The Western Sydney Wanderers A-League team have wrapped up their pre-season campaign with a confident 4-0 victory over Blacktown City on Saturday afternoon.
Get your tickets for our Round 1 season opener double header here.
Goals from Bernie Ibini, Simon Cox, Tate Russell, and Kosta Grozos rounded out the scoring in what was an impressive performance by the Red & Black.
Head coach Carl Robinson named a strong starting eleven which included new signings Bernie Ibini, James Troisi and Ziggy Gordon, as well as Graham Dorrans who linked up with the squad this week after hotel quarantine.
The Red & Black dominated the match from the outset and had some early chances through Keanu Baccus and Daniel Georgievski.
But it was Ibini who broke the deadlock after a smart turn and fantastic strike into the top left corner couldn’t be reached by former Wanderers goalkeeper Tristan Prendergast.
Ibini was on fire and turned from goalscorer to provider linking up with Cox to create a number of chances.
It was only a matter of time then until the Wanderers increased their lead through Cox. Prendergast pushed out a long-range shot by Dorrans and Cox was in the right place at the right time to fire home.
The second half saw Robinson bring on some of the Red & Black’s young guns with Ali Auglah, Anthony Lesiotis and Grozos replacing the new recruits.
Within two minutes of the half, Russell extended the sides lead to 3-0 with an impressive strike paying off for all his hard work during the fixture.
Auglah also looked close to opening his goalscoring account after a great ball from Baccus but unfortunately, the flag was up for offside.
Grozos was having a standout performance with the midfielder wrapping up the scoring with a quality shot to make it 4-0.
Goalkeeper Daniel Margush was rarely tested with the Wanderers defence led by Dylan McGowan staying strong to keep Blacktown at bay.
The Red & Black continued to push for more goals with Auglah, Grozos and Daniel Wilmering all having some great opportunities to get onto the scoresheet.
The 4-0 over Blacktown City wrapped up the Wanderers pre-season campaign with the side now spending the next week preparing for their A-League season opener against Macarthur Bulls at Bankwest Stadium.
Get your tickets for our Round 1 season opener double header here.
Starting XI: Margush (GK), Russell, Gordon, McGowan, Mourdoukoutas, Georgievski, Baccus, Troisi, Dorrans, Cox and Ibini
Substitutes: Grozos, Lesiotis, Cancar, Al-Taay, Wilmering, Carluccio, Natta, Lopane, Auglah, Aquilina, Badolato, Pelekanos and Warshawsky (GK)
