The Western Sydney Wanderers dropped out of the A-League Finals race after suffering a 2-1 defeat at home to Melbourne City tonight.
The Wanderers were looking for revenge for their 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Melbourne City earlier in the season with a spot in the top 6 all but assured for the winner. City came out on top with a first half brace followed by a stoic second half defensive play that the bright spark of Marcus Younis & Dylan Scicluna couldn't break down.
Melbourne City backed up with the same squad from their record breaking 8-0 demolition of Perth Glory the week prior, while the Wanderers continued to miss Nicolas Milanovic & Lachlan Brook to international duty while also losing Brandon Borrello to injury in their 2-1 losing effort in the Sydney Derby.
The Wanderers made a decent start, with Zac Sapsford setting up a free kick on the right wing from a cynical foul by Vicente Fernandez that saw him pick up an early yellow card. City managed to scramble away the resulting set piece opportunity. Melbourne City setup a good opportunity for Marin Jakolis, he chested down a lob into the box that he was onside, but he was put off by the cover defence just enough that he dragged his shot wide.
City took the lead with an assist from Marcelo. Leo Natel isolated Aidan Simmons, beat him with a simple cut inside onto his right foot and smashed the ball toward goal, saw it take a flick off the Wanderers Captain and beat the dive of Thomas ar the far post.
Sapsford could have pulled the Wanderers level shortly after, Pierias had made a number of attacking raids down the right flank and another one let him find Oscar Priestman who laid it off for Sapsford, his shot at the near post was saved well by Jamie Young. Jack Clisby was in the right place at the right time when Jamie Maclaren and Jakolis combined, the cross into the 6 yard box would have given Maclaren a golden chance if not for Clisby coming across as late cover to nod it away.
Jakolis missed his earlier chance but he was given a saloon passage into the 18 yard box to score his 2nd goal of the season and City's 2nd of the game. Starting with non-existent pressure on Jamie Young, the Wanderers invisible midfield allowed their opponents to quickly pass it up field, then to let Jakolis run with the ball from 30 yards out. He strode into the box without challenge, Alex Bonetig ignored the golden rule of defending and ran away from the man with the ball for a phantom run to his left, leaving Jakolis to slowly shuffle inside the box, square up and shoot with Marcelo's attempted block not soon enough to stop it from hitting the side netting to make it 2-0 with 5 minutes left to play in the half, a score line which remained until the break.
While it was not quite "season on the line" yet, there was an imperative to make a change and Marko Rudan hooked Marcus Antonsson and Bonetig with Younis and Nathan Barrie on in like for like positional substitutions. The changes did little to improve the situation, with Josh Brillante having a long range strike the crowd was momentarily excited for before Young swatted it away. City went to the bench before the hour mark, Leo Natel making away after his goal-scoring effort with Harry Politidis coming on. Dylan Scicluna came on for Simmons.
Melbourne City paid the price for lazy wing defence as they allowed the two Red & Black substitutes to combine to draw a goal back. Scicluna was left in an acre of space on the sideline and he launched a curling cross to the back of the penalty area, Younis arrived on the edge of the 6 yard box, heading back and across the keeper, 2-1 to the Wanderers with 20 to play. Milos Ninkovic and Nathaniel Blair were the final substitutions for the Wanderers as Sapsford & Sonny Kittel left. Terry Antonis & Max Caputo entered for City as they took off Tolgay Arslan and Mathew Leckie to introduce fresh legs for the final 10 minutes.
Younis and Ninkovic both had chances, Younis with two attempts after cutting back onto his right and striking hard & fast but not being able to beat Younis or curl it into the far side. Ninkovic was almost through on goal in the 86th minute, but just as he pulled the trigger he was closed down and had his shot blocked. City used their final window following the shot, the substitute Politidis coming off in a tactical switch with former Wanderer Alessandro Lopane after only a half-hour and Curtis Good on to shore up the defence. The Wanderers continued to push for a vital equaliser, they prodded and probed with Ninkovic, eventually a snapshot from Younis was created but his shot hit the bar in an agonising fashion for the home supporters with 6 minutes of stoppage time given by the fourth official.
In the 95th minute City gave away a free kick not far out from their penalty area. With even Lawrence Thomas going up for the set piece Jack Clisby elected to shoot at goal but couldn't get it past the wall. After a series of crosses & rebounds it fell for Ninkovic but he turned out to be in an offside position and it was the final chance of the game. Melbourne City took the 3 points with their first half goals enough to get past a Wanderers team that lacked attacking inspiration until Younis & Scicluna arrived on the scene.
Western Sydney left too big a hole to pull themselves out from, giving up their 6th place position, with reclamation of the last finals spot now requiring a win against Melbourne Victory in the final round and for Melbourne City to then lose or draw on Sunday. A loss or draw could see the team finish as low as 7th pending result for Brisbane & Adelaide. In addition to being a potential final game as a professional before Ninkovic retires, it might also be the difference between Marko Rudan continuing into a 4th year in charge or the club having to look for yet another manager to try and turn the club around.
The Wanderers next match is their final game of the regular season, against Melbourne Victory in Melbourne with kick-off on Saturday the 27th with kick-off at 7:45pm.
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