A scorching hot day in Melbourne was the scene for the Wanderers Round 12 match against Melbourne Victory, a back and forth contest that ended in a 2-2 draw as Victory won a late equaliser from a penalty against Jack Clisby.
Following the red card to Dean Pelekanos last week in the 3-2 loss to Macarthur, the goal scoring substitute Anthony Pantazopoulos was elevted into the starting lineup. Juan Mata continued in the first with Marcus Antonsson returning to his bench role for Aydan Hammond.
Victory spent the opening 10 minutes well on top, the Wanderers were hardly able to get the ball into the Victory half. But it was the Wanderers who blundered two huge opportunities to score the opener. A cross to Brandon Borrello that had the striker stretching, he made contact in the middle of the 6 yard box but turned the ball into the post and out again. Shortly after Zac Sapsford should have scored himself, getting on the end of a floated cross to the back post, beating his marker and having a free shot at goal from point blank range that he stabbed over the bar.
After a drinks break the Wanderers once again spurned a glorious chance, Sapsford closed down Victory keeper Jack Duncan to cause a turnover to Borrello, he found Sapsford back inside but the ball was behind him, forcing a need to turn on the ball to make the shot and it also went wide.
The home side made the visitors pay for their profligacy on the half-hour. With a simple short corner routine the Victory played it out to a cross from deep, Zinedine Machach made a run back toward his own goal, met the ball with a flick-on behind him to the back post. Jack Clisby had failed to react quickly enough to the Machach run and he played Roderick Miranda onside who scored with a quick witted right foot side volley.
Moments before the break the Victory were the architects of their own demise with late Christmas gift for Aydan Hammond. Sapsford was closing down Miranda deep in the Victory corner, and the defender elected to play it back across the face of goal instead of clearing it, Brendan Hamill the former Wanderer was in the area but seemingly left it for Duncan, but the keeper had retreated to his goal-line, leaving Hammond a one on one that he hammered home.
Right before half-time there was a tangle in midfield with Adama Traore wrestling Hammond to the floor, Hammond came up bloody in the mouth but after a brief discussion with the linesman, there was zero action take by the referee and the VAR ignored it for some reason.
Western Sydney started brightly in the second half, a set of corners on either side, Clisby took the second as an in-swinger to the near post and it found the head of Sapsford whose flick went just wide. 54 minutes in and both sides went to the bench. The Wanderers took off Juan Mata & Joshua Brillante for Aidan Simmons & Alex Badolato to make their long awaited returns to the field, and for Victory they introduced the dangerous Reno Piscopo & Greek striker Nikos Vergos for Machach & Jing Reec. Brillante had suffered a knock to his knee earlier in the game, his central defensive role was occupied by Pantazopoulos. Not long after a second set of subs came for Western Sydney, Bozhidar Kraev & Antonsson on for Sapsford & Hammond.
After the momentum break Antonsson made Duncan leap high into the air to save his team from going behind. Antonsson reached a bouncing ball over the top first, lifted a lob into the air that Duncan required all his height and arm span to block in mid-air.
With 15 to play the Wanderers took control of the game through a brilliant solo run from Nicolas Milanovic. Hamill was slow to react to a wayward midfield pass, his diving block attempt only found Borrello and his first time pass gave Milanovic room to run. Milanovic dribbled into the Victory area, wasn't closed down effectively and then he blasted a left foot rocket past Duncan.
Just as it looked like Western Sydney might be heading back to New South Wales with all three points, Jack Clisby gave away a penalty for handball. Diving in to block a shot from Nishan Velupillay he left his arm out by his side, made contact with a ball that was heading into the back of the net. VAR eventually stopped the game for the review and it didn't take long to come back as fatal for the Wanderers. Ryan Teague stepped up, sent Thomas the wrong way and scored the equaliser to make it 2-2. Clisby seemingly got away with a second yellow card under a certain reading of the laws of the game and he was replaced by Jesse Cameron who himself earned a yellow card seconds after his introduction.
Despite the seemingly inevitability of a Victory winner they couldn't craft a final golden chance to take all three points, and stoppage time ended and full time came with both teams taking a point, the 2-2 draw pushing Victory back up to 2nd place while the Wanderers continue to languish outside the finals positions on 15 points, 3 behind the pack of four clubs on 18 points.
The Wanderers next match is on Tuesday the 14th of January against Perth Glory in Perth with kick-off at 9:45PM EDT.
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