With a 4-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix at on Friday night, Western Sydney Wanderers proved why they deserve a place in the top six.
Throughout each half, Wanderers posed Phoenix with multiple threats and scored twice.
Having already secured a place in the finals, the home team have now also booked a home final. With the victory, the Red and Black are above Adelaide on goal difference and sit second on the ladder.
As a result of several Wanderers players putting in man-of-the-match performances, such as Brandon Borrello, Calum Nieuwenhof, Amor Layouni, Milos Ninkovic, and Aidan Simmons, the away team struggled.
Borrello opened the scoring for the hosts in the ninth minute. The Wanderers then took full control of the game when Nieuwenhof scored in the 31st minute.
“Right from the start to the end, it was a real clinic,” Wanderers coach Marko Rudan said.
“The score could have been anything. It was an outstanding performance, something we’ve been building towards since the start of the year.
“They are in a good place and want more, and that’s the great thing about it. So I’m not going to put a ceiling on what can happen.
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Though the Wanderers provided solid defence from the start of the season, the question remained: can they attack?
The answer is four goals for the fourth time in their last nine games.
The Wanderers have proven to be an attacking force with four goals from four different scorers — three from their young talents against the Phoenix.
Simmons, their 19-year-old right-back, scored his first ALM goal in the 65th minute to cap an impressive performance.
With a Romain Amalfitano assist, the young star showed exemplary composure when he rounded the goalkeeper and a defender to hit it into the net.
The fourth goal came from Rudan’s substitutes when Kusini Yengi scored off a Nicolas Milanovic assist in the 87th minute.
Western Sydney’s victory drops Phoenix to sixth behind Sydney FC on goal difference.
The Nix have picked up just one point in their last five games.
“The first half, we didn’t deal with a few balls over the top defensively. I think today was a good lesson for our team,” Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay said.
“It was more of a game where it was men versus boys, and that’s what it looked like from the sidelines.”
Feature Image Credit: Western Sydney Wanderers
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