Western Sydney Wanderers secured their fifth A-League win in a row against the Central Coast Mariners with second half goals to Brendon Santalab and Mitch Nichols.
Santalab put the visitors in front midway through the second half after coming on for the injured Dario Vidosic, latching onto a through ball from Mitch Nichols before firing past Paul Izzo.
The Mariners refused to go down without a fight, but after mounting attack after attack on the Wanderers goal Andrew Redmayne was still unbeaten.
The extra numbers thrown forward by Tony Walmsley’s side left them open at the back though and Nichols was able to score a deserved goal in stoppage time to secure the points.
Starting lineups and formations
Daniel Heffernan made a return to the starting eleven after scoring a hat-trick in the National Youth League last week, lining up next to Roy O’Donovan in a two-man attack. Jake McGing made a return to central defence after missing the 2-1 loss to Melbourne Victory through suspension. Mitch Austin made deemed unfit to start, causing Josh Rose to move up into left midfield from defence.
Central Coast Mariners starting XI (4-4-2): Izzo; Roux, McGing, Poscoliero, Neill; Fitzgerald, Caceres, Montgomery, J. Rose; O’Donovan, Heffernan.
The Wanderers were hit by the late withdrawal of striker Mark Bridge after an injury in the warm-up, forcing a reshuffle from Tony Popovic that brought Dario Vidosic into the starting eleven. Vidosic would take position on the left, with Jaushua Sotirio up front and Romeo Castelen on the right.
Western Sydney Wanderers starting XI (4-2-3-1): Redmayne; Neville, Aguilar, Topor-Stanley, Jamieson; Dimas, Andreu; Castelen, Nichols, Vidosic; Sotirio.
Izzo mops up for Mariners
The gung-ho style of Tony Walmsley’s side involves a high defensive line and pressing the opposition defence deep in their own half. Naturally, the pace provided by the likes of Sotirio and Castelen posed a significant threat on the counter-attack, particularly with the ball-playing abilities of Nichols and Andreu in the centre of the park.
However, not only do central defenders Jake McGing and Jacob Poscoliero possess an ample amount of pace but goalkeeper Paul Izzo did an admirable job sweeping behind the defence. The 20-year-old showed great alertness and confidence to rush off his line on multiple occasions.
Wasteful Castelen causes trouble
Other A-League wingers should take note of Castelen’s performance against the Mariners – his movement was an attacking masterclass. The 32-year-old gave Michael Neill a torrid time on the left of the Mariners’ defence, often using smart touches to evade the clumsy challenges of his young opponent.
Whether it was drifting into channels or dribbling past players, everything Castelen did was creating chances on goal. It was at that final stage that the Dutch international let himself down, striking the post in the first half and missing the target when put through one-on-one with Izzo.
Fortunately for Tony Popovic, Castelen’s profligacy didn’t cost his side the points, but the winger will have to work on his finishing at training ahead of back-to-back home games against fellow title contenders Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory.
Attacking dilemmas continue for Walmsley
The defeat marked the first time the Mariners had failed to score under Tony Walmsley from his 15 matches in charge of the club, but the struggles in front of goal had been evident for a number of weeks. Late goals from Matt Sim in the past two weeks have kept the club’s scoring streak alive, but these have been from the sheer number of attempts produced by the Mariners rather than the quality of them.
The dual strikeforce of Heffernan and O’Donovan made very little impact, struggling to find any meaningful possession in the final third and failing to combine effectively. Roy O’Donovan nearly created a goal with his defensive play after charging down a clearance by Wanderers’ goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, but aside from that neither player looked likely to get on the scoresheet.
Given the two players are strong, tall strikers, it seemed clear that the best way of finding the back of the net would be from crosses. However, as in recent weeks, despite a barrage of deliveries into the penalty area the two strikers only produced one shot on goal between them. Whether it was the strikers not making the right runs or the wide men not playing the right crosses, the Mariners failed to take advantage of their greatest strength.
Central Coast Mariners Conclusion
Club owner Mike Charlesworth has made it clear that he is more focused on the team playing entertaining football rather than getting results, but seven matches without a win has already put a huge dent in the club’s final chances. There have been patches of fire and resilience in the Mariner’ play, but the overall system is still struggling.
Western Sydney Wanderers Conclusion
Five wins in a row for the Wanderers and Tony Popovic’s new core is blending together well. However, more clinical finishing will be required by Western Sydney if they are to come away with wins against Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory in the coming weeks.
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