A stunning goal from Gabriel Cleur has helped the Wanderers to a 2-1 come from behind victory over local foes Macarthur.
Western Sydney fell behind in the second half after an unfortunate Anthony Pantazopoulos own goal, but two goals in 10 minutes from Nicolas Milanovic and Cleur secured the Wanderers’ first comeback win of the season, giving them a crucial three points in the process.
Alen Stajcic named an unchanged starting side that suffered heartbreak in the Sydney Derby the week before, and the attack and defence were both involved in the game early on.
Alex Bonetig had to be alert to make a crucial block to deny the Bulls in the 9th minute, with Brandon Borrello then breaking down the other end but shanking an effort on goal.
Pantazopoulos almost scored another goal against the Bulls with a glancing header from a corner, but it bounced just wide of the goal.
The Wanderers grew into the game, with Bozhidar Kraev curling a shot just wide of the post, before Borrello was well denied by Filip Kurto in the Bulls’ goal.
The Macarthur ‘keeper made a brilliant save just before the break to deny Zac Sapsford, with his effort looking destined for the top corner.
Western Sydney lost a bit of momentum after the break and went behind after Pantazopoulos and Cleur got in a muddle trying to clear a cross, resulting in it just going over the line.
The Wanderers kept pushing, with Sapsford blazing over the bar from a tight angle, but they were close to being exposed on the counter, being saved by a great stop from Lawrence Thomas in goal.
It would be a pivotal moment as minutes later the Wanderers were level.
Cleur cut inside from right back and poked a ball over the top of the defence, with Milanovic finishing clinically low and hard past Kurto.
The flag initially went up for offside, but after a lengthy VAR review, Milanovic was deemed to be just onside and the goal stood.
The turnaround from the Wanderers was complete 10 minutes later, and Cleur was the scorer with a truly amazing effort.
With the defence standing off him and the ball sitting up nicely, the fullback – who never scored an A-League goal before – unleashed a powerful volley that dipped and swerved beyond the despairing dive of Kurto and into the top corner of the goal, bringing the Wanderers crowd to its feet.
The game became stretched as the visitors searched for an equaliser, and Borrello came close to scoring as his deflected effort was just about parried over the bar by Kurto.
Oscar Priestman and Marcus Antonsson had chances to add to the lead, but they weren’t able to convert, before substitute Aydan Hammond went so close to sealing the game in stoppage time, but agonisingly put a 1v1 chance just wide of the goal after being sent clean through.
It was a tense eight minutes of stoppage time for the Wanderers, who had to dig deep to hold out desperate Macarthur attempts to grab an equaliser.
A late debut came for 18-year-old Alaat Abdul-Rahman, who made his mark with a strong challenge on Bulls defender Matt Jurman, who took offence at the challenge and sparked a bit of a coming together in the middle of the pitch.
It would be how the game would end, as the referee blew the final whistle to secure a vital win for the Wanderers.
They travel to Central Coast next weekend, looking to continue their unbeaten run of form that now stands at three games.
