The Western Sydney Wanderers hosted Melbourne City in a Tuesday night fixture at the Western Sydney Stadium and was another dismal loss, a 2-0 result for City spearheaded by a brace for Jamie Maclaren.
There was some late drama with Florin Berenguer suffering an ankle injury and having to be replaced in the lineup by Naoki Tsubaki and their coach Patrick Kisnorbo suffering from illness and not being able to make his way to Parramatta.
After copping a first minute goal against Adelaide United the defence would have been looking to stay switched on from kick-off, but Keanu Baccus had other ideas. 5 minutes in with the ball deep in his own half his attempt at playing out from the back went wrong as he found a City player and it was instantly played in to Jamie Maclaren, the Wanderers nemesis fired across Daniel Margush and opened the scoring.
Somehow Nabbout didn't extend the lead in the 30th minute, he was released down the right wing and turned Mark Natta completely inside out before crashing his shot against the far post. Earlier in the game he also made a hash of a free header on the 6 yard box, and also had another chance that he put well wide.
The Wanderers were utterly dominated for a 10 minute period, they finally broke free in the 33rd, with Simon Cox finding James Troisi making a forward run, he cut back inside but his shot was disappointing and well off target. 5 minutes before half-time Keanu Baccus went into the referees notebook for diving to try and win a penalty against Curtis Good, and City went down the other end and Maclaren found enough space for a shot that went over the bar.
Baccus paid for his terrible display by being hooked at half-time for Jordan Mutch. James Troisi continued his horrible game by giving away a penalty in the 53rd minute. He lifted his hands while attempting to block a cross, and despite some dubious camera angles the VAR stepped, the referee called the penalty and Maclaren slotted it into the top of the goal. All complaints about VAR aside, it's been years since the new handball laws were introduced, professional football players have no-one to blame but themselves if they lift their hands in the air trying to block crosses.
Bruce Kamau and Bernie Ibini were introduced in the 65th minute in place of Troisi and Cox. After the subs the team finally sprang into a form of life, keeping possession for enough time to build pressure. Jordan Mutch shot a curling strike at goal that slid just past the top corner. The home side played out from the back and managed to win a corner, after playing through the high press, Ibini & Duke winning a corner. From a scramble the ball fell to Kamau at the back post and he was denied by a point-blank save that Tom Glover likely knew little about. 73rd minute Aquilina should have hit the target, Dorrans managed to chip the ball back across goal, it floated for Aquilina but the fullback couldn't keep his header down.
The fans had been calling for Robinson to switch the formation to a four at the back with a more traditional midfield, and he finally responded 10 minutes before full time. Ziggy Gordon and Duke were replaced by Kwame Yeboah and Nicolai Muller. City had the next chance however, another disgraceful defense from a corner by the Wanderers, letting Good get a free header on the 6 yard box and he should have scored.
Muller and Dorrans bombarded the City goal, Muller couldn't take advantage of Glover being out of his goal, Muller's shot was blocked by a defender and the rebound fell to Dorrans and he blasted a long range drive that also found the body of a City defender. Maclaren thought he'd secured all three points with a hat-trick in the final seconds, but he had strayed offside prior to receiving the pass. In the end it didn't really matter, as the visitor's closed out the game comfortably, taking all three points to move within striking distance of the top 6. For the Wanderers it was same old same old, not matching their opponents in the first half, going behind, and only raising the intensity when behind and after multiple subs had been made. Despite being in the top 4, the loss has setup the Wanderers for a potential drop outside the top 6 should results not go their way, and that happening will heap further pressure on Carl Robinson to make some changes to arrest the slide.
The Wanderers next game is against Western United on Sunday March 7, with kick-off in Ballarat at 6:10PM.
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