On the attack … Besart Berisha faces Michael Beauchamp in defence for the Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday. Photo: Getty Images
THE Western Sydney Wanderers have achieved any number of firsts this season. The latest came on a hot and oppressively humid afternoon at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, where they slashed Brisbane's freshly pumped tyres in the second half to rally for a thrilling 2-1 victory.
It was the first time the new club had overcome a deficit to win. That they did it against the twice defending champions may be a telling moment in the season, in which one side displayed title credentials and the other continued a slide from grace.
Brisbane, second-last on the ladder, desperately needed to show something, anything, at home if they were to make a run at the finals. Post-season football without the Roar hasn't seemed possible in the past two seasons but this year, it's the Wanderers that have a buzz about them heading towards the home turn.
The match wasn't without its controversy but the Roar weren't going to use an offside ruling on Youssouf Hersi's winning goal as an excuse. Their embattled coach, Mike Mulvey, said his side simply switched off as the Wanderers upped the tempo after the break.
The Roar resembled the Roar of old to start the match, running hard, passing quickly and threatening the box before they finally broke through in the 23rd minute via Mitch Nichols.
They carried the 1-0 lead to the break and it appeared to be the afternoon in which their season took a turn for the better. The Wanderers, flat and apparently battling to compete in the difficult conditions, looked like they were running on an empty tank.
Tony Popovic gave them new life in the second half and two goals in four minutes was enough to bury the Roar. Mark Bridge caught the Roar defence and keeper Michael Theo napping in the 66th minute before Hersi powered home on the counter to smash home the winner.
Brisbane were outraged by the decision to allow the goal, claiming the clearly offside Shinji Ono was part of the play and drew defenders that would have otherwise intervened on the Hersi run. Their claims were ignored and the Wanderers made it three from three against Brisbane in their debut season.
There's even more bad news for the Roar. Besart Berisha and Shane Stefanutto were given yellow cards and will miss the away match against Perth next week. A loss would almost be enough to end their campaign.
For the Wanderers, talk of finals is in the air and even suggestions from punditry that they may be good enough to win it all. Popovic won't buy into that but will back his players against anyone on their day.
''Let's hope we can keep this run going,'' Popovic said.
''We didn't play too well in the first half. We asked them to try something they haven't done yet and that's come from behind.
''There has been a lot of firsts at this club - today was another step forward for us. It just shows the character and belief in this squad.''
Mulvey said his players lost focus in the second half, allowing the Wanderers too much space to force their way back into the contest.
''I thought we got a deserved lead. In the second half, you can't give people like Ono space in the middle,'' he said. ''We didn't defend well enough. We switched off. We were playing with eight players at times. I think it was a lack of focus and concentration. We were all over the place.''
Roar star Thomas Broich said it was another dark day for the A-League's former glamour club.
''That's how it goes. There can't be any excuse. We've been lucky in the past when things went our way. Another pretty depressing afternoon,'' Broich said.
No comments:
Post a Comment