A home crowd advantage wasn’t enough for Western United as they suffered their first A-League loss to Melbourne City 2-1.
The game exploded with several missed chances from both sides before United missed an early chance after a turnover allowed Berisha to send a header into the box.
Moments later United’s Connor Pain was shown a yellow card for a rash tackle.
After a ball bounced off United captain Alessandro Diamanti, City took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute from the boot of Jamie Maclaren.
In a bid to even the score United’s Josh Risdon’s shot went answered after it floated just wide of the post.
Harrison Delbridge was shown a yellow card in the 49th minute after a late challenge on Diamanti.
City relentlessly tried to hang on to their one-goal lead but their hard work was undone by a penalty in the 63rd minute.
City went down to 10 men when Delbridge received a red card for a handball during a late tackle on Besart Berisha.
The former Kosovar international’s penalty saw the home side equalise 1-1.
However, United’s enthusiasm was short-lived as Maclaren slipped past three defenders and spun the ball straight past goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
Panagiotis Kone and Berisha tried to equalise for United deep into added time but couldn’t and subsequently, marked the side’s first A-League loss.
City defender Scott Jamieson was thrilled about his team’s victory despite their 10-man disadvantage for 30 minutes.
“Going down to ten men and then coming back is a fantastic effort…we are pleased but we aren’t getting carried away,” he said.
The win see’s City moves to second on the ladder and United drop to third ahead of round four next week.
Western United: 1 (Berisha 66′)
Melbourne City: 2 (Maclaren 32′ 85′)
GMHBA Stadium
Attendance: 7042
Referee: Adam Kersey
Assistant Referees: George Lakrindis, Tony Peart
Fourth Official: Jonathan Barreiro
VAR: Craig Zetter
Western United: Filip KURTO (GK), Andrew DURANTE, Dylan PIERIAS, Connor CHAPMAN, Panagiotis KONE, Scott MCDONALD, Connor PAIN, Dario JERTEC, Besart BERISHA, Josh RISDON, Ersan GULUM, Alessandro DIAMANTI, Kwabena APPIAH (90’), Max BURGESS (62’), Dylan PIERIAS (75’)
Unused Subs: Aaron CALVER, Ivan VUJICA, James DELIANOV (GK), Jerry SKOTADIS
Melbourne City: Dean BOUZANIS (GK), Scott JAMIESON, Harrison DELBRIDGE, Curtis GOOD, Scott GALLOWAY, Denis GENREAU, Josh BRILLANTE, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, Craig NOONE, Jamie MACLAREN, Lachlan WALES, Connor METCALFE (62’), Nathaniel ATKINSON (73’)
Unused Subs: Tom GLOVER (GK), Adrian LUNA, Ramy NAJJAR, Richard WINDBICHLER, Stefan COLAKOVSKI
Featured image credit: Ngau Kai Yan
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