A late strike from super-sub Brendan Santalab secured Western Sydney Wanderers a fortunate 2-1 over Perth Glory at Pirtek Stadium.
From kick-off, Perth looked motivated and pressed the Wanderers back four, causing some early turnovers. Chris Harold had the best chance of a cagey first-half when he sprang the offside trap, only for the timely intervention of Scott Jamieson to send his shot wide. Andy Keogh and Harold also saw attempts saved by Liam Reddy, whileNebojsa Marinkovic’s smart lob fell just past the post.
The Wanderers returned from the halftime break with more purpose, although they found themselves lucky to not be a goal down when Marinkovic sliced a chance wide from inside the box. It was then the Glory’s turn to count their lucky stars, when Mitch Nichols latched onto a through ball, only to shoot wide one-on-one with Ante Covic.
Perth were eventually punished for missing their bevvy of chances when they were caught on the counter by the hosts, and Romeo Castelen cut in from the wing to unleash a scorching strike which found the net via the post. However, they had barely finished celebrating when their captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley clumsily brought down Harold in the box and Keogh calmly equalized from the spot.
As the game reached its dying embers, it was anybody’s result. However, Tony Popovic had an ace up his sleeve in substitute Brendan Santalab. The striker continued his recent good form off the bench, latching onto a lobbed pass and acrobatically flicking over Ante Covic to claim a late, albeit fortunate, win.
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The Wanderers’ defence can be exploited
Going forward, Western Sydney have multiple weapons at their disposable. The finishing of Mark Bridge, the creativity of Nichols, pace and trickery from Castelen and Dario Vidosic, the poaching of Santalab and the overlapping runs from Scott Neville and Jamieson. Unfortunately, it is their defence which looked shaky – while Neville, Jamieson, Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Alberto Aguilar are good players individually, as a unit they struggled against Perth’s pressing defence. Their distribution was off and they were responsible for many turnovers. Had it not been for some lacklustre finishing, they could have found themselves with no points to show for their performance .
Lowe’s tactics (almost) quell the Wanderers
Kenny Lowe has copped some criticism during his time as Perth coach, but he deserves all the credit for tonight’s performance. Recognising the Western Sydney’s fondness for playing out the back, Lowe instructed his charges to press high up the pitch. The result was an unsettled Wanderers defence, always under pressure and forced to pump the ball long. When the home side were able to take possession inside the Glory’s half, they found themselves faced with a very organised visiting defence, who shutdown the passing lanes and refused to allow them an inch of space. Unfortunately, twice they switched-off and twice they conceded. Still, you cannot blame Lowe for one lapse of concentration.
Perth’s finishing cost them dearly
For all of their organisation tonight, Perth created a lot of chances and came away with little reward. Harold, who came into the game off the back of six goals in as many games, wasted three great opportunitites – one after he had sprung the offside trap and two of them unmarked headers. Keogh missed a difficult chance from a free-kick, although he later atoned himself from the penalty spot. Meanwhile, the otherwise solid Marinkovic managed to create space for himself, but with just Liam Reddy to beat, he sliced his volley wide. After finding themselves down a goal late, they were unable to conjure up another equalizer.
Santalab is the king of the late goal
He loves a bit of late game drama. Consolidating his reputation as one of the league’s best super-subs, his late, opportunistic strike broke Glory hearts and won the game. This is now his fourth goal in-a-row after the 85th minute mark and the striker is clearly relishing his role off the bench. It begs the question – will Popovic give him a start, or will he continue to use him as a game changing figure?
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