A first half goal for Jaushua Sotirio was the difference in Newcastle this afternoon, as the Wanderers survived a late fright from Newcastle's goalkeeper Mark Birighitti to keep a clean sheet and go level on points at the top of the A-League.
Western Sydney, who had sunk to fourth on the back of the prior results from this round, came out well on top against the lowly Jets, and after 15 minutes they made their dominance count on the scoreboard. A ball over the top found Mark Bridge, his cutback just missed the outstretched leg of Mitch Nichols, but ran past the penalty spot for left winger Sotirio, who had an open net and fired home. Romeo Castelen should have made it 2-0 in the 30th minute, as Dimas fed the ball through for Castelen, but he blasted his shot past the post.
The Wanderers continued to dominate in the second half, with only Mark Birighitti the Jets custodian keeping his side in the game, with Scott Neville & Andreu both forcing great saves out of the keeper. Mark Bridge should have ended the game as a contest after an hour when he was put through on goal, but delayed his shot too long, allowing the defence to tackle him, with insult added as the visiting Japanese referee deciding it was simulation and awarding the forward a yellow card.
Newcastle looked lively as the game drew to a close but had little clear cut chances. With the 3 minutes of injury time running out, Leonardo had a corner that attracted Birighitti up into the attack. The ball was delivered into the 6 yard box, Liam Reddy flapped, the ball flicked on to Birighitti, who hammered a first time volley towards goal. Unfortunately for the Jets the shot found the only Wanderers player even remotely close to the line, as Mark Bridge stuck out a boot to turn the shot away.
While it would have been an incredible equaliser, and a deserved point for Newcastle sticking to the fight as much as a potential punishment for the Wanderers profligacy in front of goal, it was not to be, with the full time whistle going straight after.
The outrageous statistic of Birighitti's shot on target being one more than Castlen, Baccus, Vidosic, Santalab & Nichols combined is a damming indication of the lack of accuracy and failure to take shots that present themselves, and with the Wanderers having the worst goal difference in the top 4, it does not bode well for a Premiership race that is so tight that only one game separates the Roar and Wanderers from Adelaide & Melbourne City.
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