Western Sydney Wanderers’ march up the ladder continued with a hard fought 2-1 win over fellow high flyers Melbourne Victory on Saturday night at a near capacity AAMI Park in Melbourne.
From the outset the tussle between the teams was fantastic. A Shinji Ono free-kick into the box 11 minutes into the game saw the ball eventually drop into the path of Iacopo La Rocca who struck it low and firm from just in front of goal to give the Wanderers a 1-0 lead. That early goal saw Victory’s confidence drop restricting them to only a few half chances for the rest of the half which had both teams working hard not to give anything away.
The second half saw a different outcome with Melbourne Victory dominating in patches at the beginning but the Wanderers defence was resolute. A swift attack by Western Sydney at the 72nd minute saw a parried shot from Victory keeper Nathan Coe fall into the path of Shinji Ono who made no mistake with his finish to make it 2-0, sending the travelling supporters into raptures.
Western Sydney had the chance to look comfortable with a two goal lead but a breakaway attack from Melbourne Victory three minutes later saw Connor Pain one-on-one with Wanderers keeper Ante Covic who couldn’t stop Pain finishing nicely to make it 2-1.
The final 15 minutes were highly charged with the Victory fans’ vocal support acting as a 12th man spurring their team on and threatening to spoil Western Sydney’s night. But it wasn’t to be as a highly disciplined tactical and technical display from the Wanderers saw them come out on top 2-1 winners in a highly entertaining match.
Melbourne Victory 1 (Connor Pain 75′)
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Iacopo La Rocca 11′, Shinji Ono 72′)
Man of the match: Jerome Polenz
Crowd: 21,638
Sydney FC v Adelaide United
