Roar Loss Extends Winless Streak To 7

Josep Gombau's first home game as official Wanderers manager resulted in a dismal 2-0 loss to a clinical Brisbane Roar at a dreary, rain soaked Olympic stadium at Homebush tonight.
 
After a day of pouring rain & storms and with their side unable to win in the last 6 game it was only the diehards who showed up in Homebush. They should have been rewarded with a goal from marquee Oriol Riera after just 5 minutes. Raul Llorente attacked down the left flank and crossed a wonderful ball to the 6 yard box at the near post. Riera met it strongly with a bullet header that flew well wide. 10 minutes later he blasted a 20 yard effort wide, and it was to be the last action for the striker and may have been the causal factor for his substitution not long after with a hamstring strain. The injury toll doubled in the 35th minute with winger Jaushua Sotirio limping off the field with another probable hamstring injury.

The Wanderers attack was another in a long line of games of shuffling sideways & backwards with no penetration, and with their first shot on target Brisbane Roar punished the home side to take the lead. With the Wanderers unable to clear their lines, Eric Bautheac nodded the ball down to the advantage of Massimo Maccarone who swivelled and laced a left foot half-volley past Janjetovic.

Ivan Franjic took advantage of static defending to score a goal with his first touch of the evening. The substitute defender cut back on his left foot & shot a curling strike back across goal, arcing over the outstretched hand of Janjetovic and dropping into the side netting. Defenders Llorente & Jack Clisby were caught cold, static & did little but watch him aim up on goal.

Western Sydney were toothless in attack, sitting back with no urgency, passing sideways & backwards over and over again. The 56% to 44% possession advantage meant little when the home side only managed 3 shots on target and conceded two goals with the only two shots their opposition put on target. Josep Gombau has a lot of work to do to salvage the season, and with the 2nd Sydney Derby coming up the Wanderers could be inching close to a double digit number of games without a win and losing touch with the top 6.