The debut of the Western Sydney Wanderers in the Club World Cup ended on a losing note after Es Setif emerged victorious after a see-sawing 90 minutes that finished 2-2 and was immediately followed by a penalty shootout that ES Setif won 5-4.
Playing a mix of youth and first team players, the Wanderers came out of the blocks strongly and took the lead in just the fourth minute as Romeo Castelen found the back of the net for the first time with his new club. Labinot Haliti's mazy run lead to a lay-off to the flying winger who blasted a screamer from the edge of the area that gave the African Champions keeper no chance.
After the break it took 5 minutes for Setif to equalise through a Daniel Mullen own goal and another 7 to take the lead through Abdelmalik Ziaya who took advantage of statuesque Wanderers defending to toepoke past Dean Bouzanis.
With 2 minutes left in regulation time, Vitor Saba also notched his first goal for the Wanderers, a wonderful free kick. With that the game went directly into penalties with no extra time.
It was not a quality shootout, with Djahnit, Labinot Haliti & Ziaya all missing in the initial set of shots. Ziaya had his attempt saved by Bouzanis, who then confidentially stepped up and out of his goal to try and win the shootout, only to have his effort saved by his counterpart. In the end if was Seyi Adeleke who became the villain, blazing his shot wide, Zerara slotting home to give his side a 5-4 shootout win and fifth place in the Club World Cup.
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