A-League – What We Learned – Western Sydney Wanderers 4 Melbourne City...

A-League – What We Learned – Western Sydney Wanderers 4 Melbourne City 3

0
SHARE

Western Sydney Wanderers confirmed their status as title favourites with a 4-3 win over Melbourne City at Pirtek Stadium.

The first 65 minutes was a dominant display by Tony Popovic’s side, with Mitch Nichols opening the scoring in the first half before setting up Mark Bridge for a double in the second stanza.

City were brought back into the contest by two brilliant goals from Harry Novillo and Bruno Fornaroli, but Anthony Caceres’ second yellow card allowed the Wanderers to grab a fourth through Brendon Santalab and seal the points despite a stoppage time goal to City’s Erik Paartalu.

Nichols: Not to be outdone

Aaron Mooy has been the standout number 10 in the competition to date, however it was his opposing number that stole the show. Mitch Nichols has quietly been going about his business this season but his performance was nothing short of outstanding, scoring the opening goal of the night with a clever finish to put it past the in-form Sorensen. He backed that up in his unselfish nature with two brilliant assists for Mark Bridge later in the match. Wanderers fans will be hoping for more of the same from Nichols as they head into the last 10 games of the regular season.


POPULAR ARTICLES 

Blunt Olyroos were hardly ready for Rio Olympics

WIN: A £50 voucher from Classic Football Shirts up for grabs!

Copa90 tell the story of the #SaveTheNix campaign [WATCH]

W-League – Grand Final preview – Melbourne City v Sydney FC


Wanderers are well and truly your A-League favourites

If it was not official, it is now. The Wanderers are the favourites to dethrone the Melbourne Victory as champions this season. Beating Melbourne City tonight was not a prerequisite for this but the manner in which they disposed of another title contender for 70 minutes of the game sent a message to the rest of the competition, but more importantly put themselves in good stead for a first championship since their inception into the competition.

Blink and you’ll miss them

For 75 minutes, Western Sydney looked like the immovable object that has them top of the table and holding the second best defensive record in the competition this season. We were ready to sing the praises of Dimas and Andreu for the concentration in their screening responsibilities and transition through the middle. Three minutes later, the Wanderers’ full-backs looked in a shambles. There was no support from the midfield and their once-compact unit looked at a loss and unable to deal with City’s trump card. Mooy looked more involved in the play, Harry Novillo finally got some space between him and Scott Jamieson and Bruno Fornaroli just created some space where there was none and all of a sudden City were back in the game. The last 15 minutes of the match showed that this City side can (and probably will) punish you given the opportunity.

City’s new recruits need some time to adjust

Not the best first impression for John van’t Schip’s new recruits, to say the least. Osama Malik looked out of his depth once skipper Patrick Kisnorbo came from the field with an injury in the opening stages. Anthony Caceres was sent from the field for a second yellow in the closing stages, which essentially killed any chance of an improbable comeback but failed to impress nonetheless. On paper, City look as though they could be the most feared in the league, however they may need some time before they can be properly judged. As a side note, it will also be interesting to see how van’t Schip uses Nick Fitzgerald in the remaining 10 games after he did not feature tonight.

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.