Goals to Romeo Castelen and Brendon Santalab either side of a penalty from Andy Keogh have given the Wanderers a 2-1 win against Perth.
The win sees the Wanderers kick 3 points clear at the top of the table although the match between Brisbane Roar and Adelaide is certain to see one of those teams close in. A tight first half ensued, with the Wanderers dominant in possession, Glory elected to sit back, defend stoutly and attack on the counter rapidly. The main item of note in the half was the loss for the Wanderers of Dario Vidosic, who came off with what looked like a hamstring problem.
All of the key moments came after the hour mark, as Perth began to tire and the Wanderers asserted their stranglehold on the game. Romeo Castelen opened the scoring in the 62nd minute on the end of a lightning counter-attack. Central defender Alex Grant leapt onto a corner, but his body shape didn't allow him to get much power. Liam Reddy, starting his second game after his derby debut, released a long throw to Mark Bridge. Bridge managed to turn on the ball, finding Mitch Nichols, who quickly laid it on for Castelen. The Dutchman turned inside with his first touch onto his right boot, the second slamming into the base of the far post and into the back of the net.
The lead lasted only a few minutes. Practically from the kick-off, Perth broke down the right hand side through the pacy Chris Harold, who managed to run around the outside of Nikolai Topor-Stanley and was dragged down by the Wanderers captain. Andy Keogh's stutterstep run-up helped to send Reddy the wrong way, but questions will be asked of how referee Strebre Delovski failed to order a retake when players on both sides had encroached into the penalty box before the kick.
Super sub Brendon Santalab entered the fray and scored the winner with a dramatic looping touch. Bridge provided the assist, a lob over the Perth backline found Santalab, and as the ball flew high, Santalab connected with a jumping volley, getting a touch to the ball that teased Ante Covic into a despairing dive and landed just past the goal line.
Perth were run ragged in the final stages, opening themselves up at the back, with Romeo Castelen having the best chance to seal the game with a rocket that crashed into the crossbar. In the end the Wanderers did enough to secure the win, although on another night it could easily have been Perth walking away with the points, as they had more than enough chances to do so.
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