Prijovic strike powers Western United past Wanderers | OneFootball

An underperforming Western Sydney Wanderers side was undone by a defensively sound Western United at AAMI Park.

It couldn’t have started any worse for the Western Sydney Wanderers, misplacing numerous passes in the opening five minutes. Mistakes like this led to Aleksandar Prijović firing home for the Green and Black from one yard out in the fifth minute.

The Wanderers continued to hold a vast amount of position in the first 15 minutes. However, an extremely well-set press from John Alosi’s side made things exceedingly difficult for the Red and Black to break down the home side.

Sulejman Krpić had a glorious chance to bring his side level right before the fan protests begun, when a long ball found the Bosnian import through on goal but his effort blazed well over the crossbar.

In the 20th minute, peaceful protests returned to AAMI Park with the Western Service Crew following suit with other A-League Men Active Support groups, choosing to walk out of the stadium.

Youngster Nicolas Milanovic very nearly scored an audacious half-volley when the Wanderers midfield allowed the 21-year-old enough time to strike on goal and force an excellent save from Lawrence Thomas.

Krpić had another golden opportunity to draw his side level. However, Jamie Young clawed the shot from the Western Sydney forward out of the Melbourne sky into safe hands.

Minutes later, Prijović had his chance to put Western United two to the good but another world-class stop this time from the Wanderers custodian saw the Red and Black keep in the game.

Both Calem Nieuwenhof and Daniel Wilmering had separate chances in two minutes to draw their sides level but once again last-ditch defending from Western United kept them ahead in Melbourne.

Jacob Tratt should have put the game to bed for the Green and Black after Alessandro Diamanti perfectly found the 28-year-old in the dying stages of the match, but his headed effort on goal was totally misguided.

The victory for Western United allows them to climb off the foot of the A-League Men ladder while the loss for Western Sydney Wanderers is a missed opportunity to leapfrog Melbourne City at the top of the table.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Western Sydney Midfield Identity

With creative midfielder, Miloš Ninković out, Marko Rudan turned his attention to Oliver Bozanic and Calem Nieuwenhof as his midfield pairing against the Green and Black.

However, despite having the majority of the possession in the first half, the Wanderers struggled to move the ball around the low block of Western United, failing on numerous attempts to penetrate the backline of the reigning champions

The choice from Rudan to play two deeper-lying midfielders forced Romain Amalfitano to press alongside Krpić when his side was without the ball, something the Frenchman hasn’t been asked to do since joining the club.

Exploiting the space in transition

As the Wanderers struggled in midfield, It allowed James Troisi and his teammates to explore vast amounts of space left when in attacking transition.

Multiple times, Troisi would be picked out in space and allowed to turn and find the wingback pairing of Jacob Tratt and Ben Garuccio who pushed up when their side was in possession.

And it would be the 34-year-old former Socceroo Troisi that put it on a plate for Prijović after an excellent counter-attacking move from Western United.

The Finishing Issue

Despite dominating the territory and pushing the Western United backline deep into their own half, the finishing in front of goal was immensely lacklustre for the Wanderers and was the clear reason why Rudan’s side didn’t leave Melbourne with all three points.

Sulejman Krpić missing two clear-cut chances in either half and the Wanderers racked up lots of possession but with precious little to show for it.

The lack of goals scored will certainly be something for Marko Rudan to ponder during the week as his side travels to Brisbane on Friday evening to take on the Roar at Kayo Stadium.

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