The Western Sydney Wanderers have fallen to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against the Perth Glory in their latest A-League Men’s clash on Saturday night.
A Stefan Colakovski strike midway through the first half and a late David Williams goal on the counter-attack late on meant an Oliver Sail own goal was only a consolation for the Wanderers.
After their strong performance against Melbourne City the week prior, coach Marko Rudan named an unchanged side for the clash against Perth, and they almost got off to the perfect start when Marcus Antonsson had a snapshot at goal that just went wide after less than a minute.
The Wanderers had the bulk of possession to begin the match, and Dylan Pierias had a shot on goal soon after that had to be swatted away by Sail in the Glory goal.
Captain Marcelo then went close with a header from a corner in the 21st minute, but it was cleared off the line by Riley Warland.
The Wanderers continued to dominate the territory battle, but were unable to break down the Perth rearguard, and they were punished as Perth hit the front in the 34th minute as Colakovski’s first time shot flew into the bottom corner, leaving Daniel Margush stranded.
Perth had their tails up, and Marcelo had to be at his best just before half-time to stop a certain goal from going in.
As the second half began, Jack Clisby and Alex Badolato had half chances as the Wanderers continued to push for an equaliser, whilst Margush was alert to deny Johnny Koutroumbis’ powerful near post drive.
Perth thought they had a second goal when David Williams tapped home a loose ball from a Margush save, but the flag went up for offside and the goal was chalked off.
With Perth growing in momentum, Western Sydney made a triple substitution as Milos Ninkovic, Valentino Yuel and Gabriel Cleur entered the game in an attempt to turn the tide, with Ninkovic in particular soon trying to assert his stamp on the game with his playmaking ability.
The Wanderers continued their push for a crucial goal, and midfielder Josh Brillante almost scored a spectacular goal as he used great footwork to get a shooting chance on the edge of the area, and his strong effort forced a diving save from Sail.
But as the Red and Black continued to pour numbers forward, gaps were left at the back and were exploited by the Glory in the 87th minute, as he found space down the right, cut inside and scored with a powerful low shot.
The Wanderers continued the fight right until the final whistle, and got a goal back when Marcelo’s header from a corner went in off the post and via goalkeeper Sail, with the Glory custodian credited with an own goal, to create a grandstand finish.
However the Wanderers weren’t able to find time for a miraculous equaliser, as the Glory were able to see out the final minutes and claim victory.
The Wanderers remain third on the A-League Men table, and travel to face Western United next Saturday.
