Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Pirmin Schwegler ensured his playing career ended on a high, scoring a first-half goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory on Wednesday night.
Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Pirmin Schwegler ensured his playing career ended on a high, scoring a first-half goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory on Wednesday night.
The Wanderers edged the battle between ninth and tenth on the Hyundai A-League table, as Schwegler’s goal and a well-taken strike from Jordan O’Doherty proved enough to stave off a late fightback from Victory inspired by a consolation goal scored by Andrew Nabbout.
Schwegler gave the Wanderers a one-goal advantage at the half time break in some style, curling a left-footed strike from outside the box past Matthew Acton in Victory’s goal to ensure he had a personal moment to savour in the last game of his career.
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It was a well-earned lead for the Red & Black who crafted all of the best efforts on goal in the first half aside from a long-range attempt from Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio which called Tristan Prendergast into a relatively comfortable save.
The Wanderers carried their ascendancy into the second half and looked set for a routine win to end their season when O’Doherty ghosted into the box to expertly divert a cross from Mitch Duke off the post and into the back of the net.
But Victory weren’t ready to say die; Nabbout made sure he got a send-off of his own in his last game in Victory colours, when he swept home a fluffed strike from Lawrie-Lattanzio to bring his side back to within one goal with more than 20 minutes to play.
A second Nabbout strike was rightly adjudged offside and that was all the fight Victory could muster, as the Wanderers held onto a 2-1 win which takes them above Newcastle Jets into eighth on the Hyundai A-League table.
The Jets play Wellington Phoenix on Thursday night with the chance to go back above the Wanderers, while Victory end the 2019/20 campaign in tenth place with 23 points, one position off the bottom of the table.
