The Western Sydney Wanderers travelled to Tarniet in Victoria for their first visit to the Ironbark Fields, sharing the points after a 1-1 draw as Brandon Borrello's first half strike was cancelled out by Hiroshi Ibusuki scoring early in the 2nd half.
Attacking signings Juan Mata and Bozhidar Kraev both started the game after their sub appearances in the losing Sydney Derby. Western United started former Wanderer Tate Russell and played what could be said to be their strongest lineup.
The back and forth action came to a head in the 13th minute as the Wanderers took the lead through Brandon Borrello first goal of the A-League season. Nicolas Milanovic won the ball in the attacking half, turned his marker and passed on quickly for Borrello who held off the defender strongly, opening up a space for a shot that was an unerring finish he blasted past Matt Sutton in the Western United goal.
WU's captain Tomoki Imai entered the referees note book with a brutal looking cocked elbow that was punished with just a yellow card. Josh Brillante with an important intervention to keep the scores level, after Hiroshi Ibusuki's twirling by-line run where he cut back into the middle, beating multiple players on both sides before Brillante toed the ball away from the feet of an onrushing attacker. Gabriel Cleur followed Imai into the book in the 25th minute. Borrello picked a card of his own for delaying a restart. While both teams had the occasional chance, neither side gave the keepers much to worry about and the match went to half-time with the Wanderers leading 1-0.
That lead lasted all of 2 minutes into the second half, Grimaldi beat Cleur to fire in a cross, Jack Clisby made a mess of clearing, instead of turning it away for a corner or throw in, his weak header floated back into the middle of the area where Ibusuki smashed a right foot volley to level the scores at 1-1.
Kraev and Mata left on the hour mark along with Pasquali & Lavale for Western United. Their replacements were Aydan Hammond & Marcus Antonsson for the Wanderers with Bozinovski & Noah Botic for the home team. There was an almighty scramble in the penalty area after a mistake at the back from Vidackovic who took an extremely heavy first touch on a backpass, he managed to tackle an onrushing attacker then made a save on the rebound and eventually the Wanderers cleared the ball. Borrello had a chance of his own from a WU backpass but his shot wasn't good enough to beat the keeper.
Botic smacked a long range shot off the post after another midfield turnover, he beat Vidackovic but not the woodwork, and the follow up came off a defender for a corner. Oscar Priestman made way for Dylan Scicluna in a like for like central midfield sub. Milanovic tried an ambitious long range strike on his left foot that bounced into the keepers arms. With 5 minutes left Alen Stajcic made his final roll of the dice with the introduction of Aidan Simmons for Borrello and Benjamin Holliday for Milanovic.
Western United were the better of the two sides in the final stages but neither team could manage a clear cut chance at goal, and the match petered out to a 1-1 draw that both teams deserved on the balance of play. Charbel Shamoon had the final chance of the game, a back post diving header that he wasn't in the best position for and so headed it over the bar. The final whistle sounded shortly after, a point for both teams that did little to improve their early season ladder position, both teams will head into week three without a win.
The Wanderers next game is against Adelaide United on Saturday the 2nd of November, at Parramatta with kick-off at 7:35 Sydney time.
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