The Wanderers have been held to a 1-1 draw against Western United on Sunday afternoon.
In their first away match of the league season and first ever trip to Ironbark Fields, the Red and Black took the lead thanks to Brandon Borrello, but were pegged back by a Hiroshi Ibusuki equaliser just after the break.
Alen Stajcic’s side had a point to prove after going down in a tight opening round derby loss, and the boss made a couple of big changes to the side in an attempt to bounce back to winning ways.
Juan Mata and Bozhidar Kraev made their first ever starts for the club, whilst Oscar Priestman also returned from injury to partner Josh Brillante in the middle of the park.
The two creative midfielders went to put their influence on the game early, being involved in much of the Wanderers’ good buildup play as both sides fought to gain control of the match in windy conditions.
Western Sydney would be the ones to strike first through stand-in captain Borrello after just 15 minutes.
Nicolas Milanovic, playing against his former club, slid a wonderful pass between the two United central defenders, and Borrello then showed great strength to hold off the challenge of Dylan Leonard, and slid the ball underneath Matt Sutton and into the back of the net.
It was his first goal of the season in all competitions, and after an injury ravaged 2023-24 campaign, Borrello and the Wanderers will be hoping it’s the start of better things in front of goal.
The home side looked to respond quickly, and had a couple of chances through Oli Lavale and Angus Thurgate, but the Wanderers managed to get bodies behind the ball to mitigate the danger.
Western Sydney had two chances just before the break to double their lead, but Borrello couldn’t curl his shot from the edge of the area on target, and Milanovic was offline with a header.
They would rue these missed chances, as just after half-time the home side levelled the scores thanks to a deflected Ibusuki effort.
Brillante almost put the Wanderers back in front immediately, but his fizzing shot was just wide of the upright, before Borrello put another effort from range off target.
Tristan Vidackovic was then forced into action with a great double save, recovering from a poor touch that put his side in danger, as the home side pressed forward with the wind at their backs in the second period.
The Wanderers still created chances of their own, as Borrello and Milanovic again had a series of efforts on goal either saved by Sutton or go agonisingly wide of the mark.
Two substitutes in Aydan Hammond and Aidan Simmons both added life and impetus to the Wanderers off the bench, and the pair were involved in goalmouth action late in the match, but both of their strong shots were blocked by some desperate Western United defence.
Both sides pushed for the winning goal in three minutes of stoppage time, but the goal could not be found, as the sides had to settle to share the points in an end-to-end contest.
The Wanderers will return home for the next two weeks, and their next game is a special one as they host Adelaide United in a match celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Asian Champions League triumph.
