First Round Win In Battle Of The West

[mack]

The 2022/23 A-League season kicked off for the Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory as they came together for their Round 1 match in Parramatta today, a scrappy contest that was shaded by the Wanderers who picked up the win after Sulejman Krpic nodded home a goal line scramble late in the second half.

Following a massive off-season recruiting campaign Adama Troare and Tomi Mrcela were the only starters retained from last season. The Wanderers biggest signing Milos Ninkovic started in the #10, alongside Sulejman Krpic, Kusini Yengi and Brandon Borello in attack, Calem Nieuwenhof and Romain Amalfitano in midfield with Marcelo and Gabi Cleur in defence, in front of Lawrence Thomas in goal. Perth's new coach Ruben Zadkovich had two former Wanderers in his team, with Liam Reddy between the sticks and Johnny Koutroumbis in central defence.

Nieuwenhof went on a mazy run from his own half to lift the crowd, breaking into the penalty area to win a corner that ultimately got cleared away by Perth. 16 minutes in the first yellow card of the campaign was shown to Perth Glory's Darryl Lachman. Cleur and Amalfitano combined down the right flank but couldn't find the final ball. Zac Duncan picked up Perth's second card of the game after blatant trip from behind on Ninkovic to prevent the attacking midfielder starting an attack. Amalfitano joined the other two players in the book with his own grab on Duncan on half-way.

The match was heavy on the cards, light on the shots, with Salim Khelifi the 3rd Perth player in the book in the 36th minute with a lunging tackle on the sideline. The free kick was taken by Borello, it fell on the edge of the 6 yard box but it was cleared away. Amalfitano found Ninkovic with a delightful lofted ball across the area but Ninkovic's jumping touch lacked strength and fell to Reddy. Perth won a last second free kick following a collision between Ninkovic & Mustafa Amini, but Aaron McEneff couldn't beat the man on the mark and the Wanderers stayed solid from a resulting corner, the match heading into the break at 0-0. There was little separating the two teams, with few shots, mostly inaccurate crosses and fouls galore.

Krpic should have opened the scoring moments after half-time. He beat his marker after the Perth defender misjudged the flight of the ball, Krpic nodded the ball down but snatched at the shot in the corner of the  6 yard area, lifting it a mile over the bar. Amini returned from the sideline after taking a knock and was straight into the action, picking up yet another yellow card for Perth.

Perth had their best stint of the game in a solid 5 minute period on the hour mark. Marcelo was wrongly pinged for a foul when he'd won the ball cleanly. The free kick was swung in and then nodded out for a corner. There was a moment of panic after a cross came in to the back post, Thomas couldn't get to the ball and it was headed back across goal but any Wanderers blushes were saved by the linesman flagging that the ball had crossed the byline. Borello had a crack from a long way out in the 66th minute, forcing Reddy to palm the ball away but luckily for the Glory keeper it was away from Krpic.

As the final 20 minutes began Ninkovic twirled and turned on the edge of the box, dazzling Mitch Oxborrow with dummy shots before firing straight at Reddy with his left foot. David Williams had a shot on the turn but Thomas had it well covered even if it had been on target. Ryan Williams became the fifth Perth player in the book seconds before he left the field, Zadkovich emptying the bench to bring on Ivanovic and Colakovski while Mark Rudan made his first change taking off Yengi for Ramy Najjarine.

Western Sydney finally took the lead in the 78th minute. Borello had a very weak shot on his left that was spilled by Reddy as Najjarine made a nuisance of himself, the ball bounced up for Cleur who threw out a leg, knocking the ball over to the other side of the 6 yard box where Krpic couldn't miss with an empty net header to make it 1-0. It was not a thing of beauty but the scoreboard doesn't care, nor did the Wanderers fan. Cleur followed up his assist by picking up a yellow card after a hack from behind.

Colakovski gave Krpic the chance to seal the three points from the penalty spot as the 90th minute ticked up. The Perth substitute bought down Najjarine whose fast feet drew a poor challenge. Krpic lined up from the spot for his second goal, but his penalty was woeful, at perfect height and just the right distance to allow Reddy to make the save, keeping his team in the game. Thomas held the lead for his team after a long range shot, he dove down to his right and did enough to get his hand to the ball and turn it away for a corner. Unsurprisingly, Liam Reddy joined the attack in the final seconds but the corner was poorly delivered to the back post and Thomas claimed the ball and all three points.

Neither team would be pleased with the performance but there was a winner and the Red & Black will go home happy with being tied for first place after Round 1. The Wanderers next match is against Melbourne Victory, in Melbourne on Saturday the 15th with kick off at 7:45pm.

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[beatsurrender]

Nothing really to take out of this game. We'll get a better idea after the trip to Mexico.

[Upthehill]

Well that's about what to expect from a team that hasn't played any competitive games

My few observations:

- more Borello please. Has the potential to be our best Aussie signing in a long long time. Needs to work on some crossing but he was ripping around the pitch in the 93rd minute.

- cleur is decent. Could link up well with borello. They both love to overlap

- krpic should have had a hattrick. He's going to need better service if he's going to score 20 this season.

- Yengi is cumbersome for a winger.

- midfield lacked some leadership. Hopefully that's oli

- we actually closed out a game being smart. Hearing ninko yelling at people to calm down, need more leaders like that.

[MathyouWSW]

yeah, as @beatsurrendersaid...it's too early to call anything, I say we'll have a rough idea on what we'll expect from the team the last week before the world cup break. At the moment, they look 100% better than the team last season.

Edited October 9, 2022 by MathyouWSW

[Upthehill]

8 minutes ago, MathyouWSW said:

yeah, as @beatsurrendersaid...it's too early to call anything, I say we'll have a rough idea on what we'll expect from the team the last week before the world cup break. At the moment, they look 100% better than the team last season.

For me the biggest part when I look at this game, there isn't anyone I look at and think "Ah f*ck they're going to be a problem."

I remember having that thought about Dorrans with his constant killing of speedy counters. Same with Cox.

Had the same assessment (as most of us did) about ibini and petratos straight off the bat last

[Sithslayer1991]

yea looks like a team just getting out of pre season. We did the expected winning should have been 2 but lets take it and go on to the next game

[Smoggy]

Wanderers of last season let’s in a last min equaliser. Last season we found a way not to win, today we held out, that is something eh..

Margush in goal isn’t saving that late Glory shot, Thomas is a half decent keeper.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Smoggy

[nmh94]

This game means 3 points, and another week to get better. Nothing more, nothing less.

[marron]

Just now, Upthehill said:

For me the biggest part when I look at this game, there isn't anyone I look at and think "Ah f*ck they're going to be a problem."

I remember having that thought about Dorrans with his constant killing of speedy counters. Same with Cox.

Had the same assessment (as most of us did) about ibini and petratos straight off the bat last

Add troisi to that list. I'd add Antonis but it was hard to notice a problem with someone who was constantly missing.

Some promising signs from players I thought, like, Borello's crosses weren't up to much, but at least he wasn't going backwards all the other times, so I'll take it.

Overall a desire to get forward and find a way. Far from smooth in that but at least it was there.

[pseudonym]

Thankfully the rain mostly held off

A good day out and back home at a good time

[MistahCampoy]

Definitely a grinded out win but a win is a win and a clean sheet to boot, something positive at least to build on for the match against Victory.

Defence looks better than last season. Amalfitano was better than expected (thankfully as his on my FT) as Nieuwenhof held his own but with Bozanic to come back we should be much more solid in midfield.

Borello looks fit ready to go already which is good to see. Spewing Krpic missed that pen but you can see that he gives it his all till the last min.

Victory will be a test but if we can get the win somehow I wana hear this chant going off again!

 

[scarcev]

Take aways from that.  
 

Krpic follows our long line of awful foreign strikers and we lose that game last year.  

[Edinburgh]

Smoggy said:

"It's a win....and a win while far from our best..that has to be encouraging right?

I say - I'm not sure that wasn't our best

Better to come...I think so..hope so.. You can see we are better organised, we do look to push forwards, the press is better..turn over less, some sustained pressure..

I say - I hope so but don't think so. Agree on the rest.

Marcello is going to conceded a shite load of free kicks this season. Not because he is bad or anything. Just the way he is and the way the ref's are in the comp.

I say - absolutely,  and maybe cards to go with it?

We got something to build on."

I say - yeah, but .....

Sorry, that's as positive as I can get.

[WSWJACK]

58 minutes ago, Upthehill said:

Well that's about what to expect from a team that hasn't played any competitive games

My few observations:

- more Borello please. Has the potential to be our best Aussie signing in a long long time. Needs to work on some crossing but he was ripping around the pitch in the 93rd minute.

- cleur is decent. Could link up well with borello. They both love to overlap

- krpic should have had a hattrick. He's going to need better service if he's going to score 20 this season.

- Yengi is cumbersome for a winger.

- midfield lacked some leadership. Hopefully that's oli

- we actually closed out a game being smart. Hearing ninko yelling at people to calm down, need more leaders like that.

Borello & Cleur tried their best to open the door down the right, Traore & Yengi stalled on the left, expected more attacking intent from those two they were more focused on being safe and turning back and sideways knowing they had Marcello as out as well, Najarine might have pushed Yengi back to the bench for the next game, Yengi looks a handful in the box at corners though.

Nice dry day and 3 points on the chart, will cut back on the whinge and say good start, better to come I trust, COYW 

[WSWJACK]

Forgot to mention Mrcela, he was solid !

[Smoggy]

We know what Ninko can do but he hardly touched the ball second half. But when he did get the ball around the box he caused a brief moment of panic in the Glory defence. Need to find the way to get the best from him consistently and get him in the game.

He still did more than Rodwell this week though eh 

[GE942150]

19 minutes ago, scarcev said:

Take aways from that.  
 

Krpic follows our long line of awful foreign strikers and we lose that game last year.  

I'm worried he's going to be another tap in merchant. I'll give him until round 5 to show something. 

[Upthehill]

7 minutes ago, WSWJACK said:

Borello & Cleur tried their best to open the door down the right, Traore & Yengi stalled on the left, expected more attacking intent from those two they were more focused on being safe and turning back and sideways knowing they had Marcello as out as well, Najarine might have pushed Yengi back to the bench for the next game, Yengi looks a handful in the box at corners though.

Nice dry day and 3 points on the chart, will cut back on the whinge and say good start, better to come I trust, COYW 

Yengi is misused on the wing. He's more like a big hold up striker. And he will be good when given a chance there. Seems to love having the ball under his chin and feeling contact from defenders. That's fine but that's not how wingers should be playing.

He should be trying to take players on and feed the middle.

I suspect he won't start once Ngbakoto is fit.

Lopane also fits the type of wingers we were using today. Aggressive and direct.

[THEWANDERERSPOST]

Not going to ramble on for too long, just a quick summary.

Thought the defence has massively improved, thats a game we lose by a few in previous seasons. Marcelo and Mrcela are fantastic. Cleur and Traore are sound in defence and add something going forward.

Amalfitano looks silky but made a few mistakes.

I have big wraps on Nieuwenhof, he was absolutely outstanding today, easy MOTM for me. Very special player there.

Ninkovic showed he isn't finished, caused a bit of havoc, worked hard and played 85 minutes more than Jack Rodwell did this week!

Borrello looked good, just needs a bit of fine tuning. Yengi shouldn't be played on the wing, get him up top! Need Ngbakoto back ASAP!

Krpic... lets be honest he is the second coming of Dino. Works hard, is pretty scrappy, but can do a job to an extent. I see him scoring here and there if he just stays in the box. Need him to improve if he wants to keep his spot!

Now for Vuck away! Hope to see many of you there! Lets keep building and get another win!

Edited October 9, 2022 by THEWANDERERSPOST

[Smoggy]

3 minutes ago, THEWANDERERSPOST said:

 

Krpic... lets be honest he is the second coming of Dino. 

There are still some that pray at the church of Saint Dino that would love his second coming. This guy isn’t it, doesn’t have the heels…

[StringerBellend]

We won it was really a pretty dire game of football but we won 

How many stupid fouls did Traore give away?

I like Cleur gets forward, Ninkovic is still class 

We are still too slow in transition 

Kripic put himself about a lot he'll be decent 

The french dude was meh, some poor passes 

a win three points hopefully builds confidence 

 

[Bones]

Najjarine the super sub.

[sonar]

Glad I went to the game. We were ok without offering anything special up front.

I thought Yengi was wasted on the wing. There were times when he should of been on his bike for a long ball. He has pace which we should be using.

Ninkovic was great tbh as was Newinhauff.

Defence was solid as.

A win is a win. A bit ugly at times but we will improve.

[GunnerWanderer]

Good to be back at the football. 
It was much as I’ve been saying in our end of pre season thread looking solid defensively and will take time offensively. 
 

overall good hitout with room for improvement! 
bring on Vic! 

[MajorMelons]

I agree with comments that Yengi should have started as striker, possibly in lieu of Krpic.
Yengi is wearing the number 9 so I’d say it might happen soon. 

[Bones]

I love the team song. 

[marron]

Just now, Bones said:

I love the team song. 

I can take it or leave it as a song but watching the smurfs have a cry about it for..... reasons I can't quite comprehend makes it a bloody ripper.

Have the team been singing it since Shannon Cole used to, or has it just been resurrected?

[Cynth]

34 minutes ago, Bones said:

I love the team song. 

If someone could translate the words that would be helpful. 

[marron]

They might be buried in here somewhere, I remember reading about it back in the day somewhere.

[marron]

Or not

 

https://www.myfootball.com.au/news/who-do-we-sing-shannon-explains

Quote

As for the team song, it’s a well-guarded secret.

Cole, himself an author of a sci-fi book entitled Secrets of Varillein: Above The Below, said the words couldn’t be revealed but he did offer a flavour of how the song came about.

“I actually wrote it at the start of last season. Meggsy [Michael Beauchamp] asked me if I could come up with something so I said I’d give it a go,” The 29-year-old attacking defender told www.footballaustralia.com.au.

“I put it together with some of our beliefs, there’s some of my Detroit influences and bit of my school war cry influences! It’s good fun and everyone gets into it.”

As for sharing a lyric or two, that’s a privilege only the players get to share.

“It was very special in the changing rooms after, all the boys sharing in the moment together.