They may not have kept a cleansheet but the Wanderers backline showed signs of improvement as they neutralised a deadly Melbourne City attack.

Unlucky to go behind in the 55th minute when Tim Cahill tapped home after a Fernando Brandan cross, Western Sydney Wanderers would be rewarded for resilience at the back when they forced an own goal deep into injury time to earn a 1-1 draw.

Though now three games without a win at Spotless Stadium, Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was particularly proud of his defensive performance against City.

“They’re a good team. They’re on a high and what chance did they have in the match? I don’t remember them even having a shot” said Popovic.

“Maybe the odd header here or there but half chances if that. So we defended very well today against a very good team and that’s an area of our game that hasn’t been strong”.

City coach John van’t Schip conceded post-game that his side failed to put the game to bed and were somewhat restricted by the Wanderers.

“We didn’t finish it off. We put pressure on ourselves by not making the right decisions in defending. We didn’t really get out as much as we wanted,” he said.

Prior to going behind, Western Sydney were unlucky to have a Kerem Bulut goal ruled out for offside with Popovic disappointed in the decision but not the play.

“The less said about that the better. I’d rather look at how good that move was…it deserved to be a goal,” he said.

He also admitted the incident led to him withdrawing Bulut from the game.

“I thought he (Bulut) was affected by it. I just wanted to take him out of the firing line,” Popovic said.

Up the other end, fan favourite Jerrad Tyson made his home debut for the club and the goalkeeper admitted there were some nerves.

“I was definitely nervous going into the game but that was because playing for this club means a lot for me and the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd was something I’d been looking forward to for a long time and tonight I got my opportunity,” he said.

One of very few players to ever have the RBB start chanting his name during a match, Tyson was thankful for the fan support.

“The fact they were there for me tonight behind every punch, every kick, every catch was incredible and certainly helped me shake those nerves and get on with the job,” he said.

Proud to sing a song for @jerradtyson in #rbb . Make it yours JT

— Tony Harper (@toneharper) November 18, 2016

Right behind the Wanderers back four, Tyson heaped plenty of praise on the men limiting the amount of work he had to do in goals.

“They were outstanding. To limit arguably the best attacking team in the league to one maybe two shots was a fantastic effort,” Tyson said.