It was the biggest win by an Australian team in Asian Champions League (ACL) history and Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic is hoping the glut of goals continues in their A-League semi-final against the Central Coast.
The Wanderers launched themselves into the knockout stages of their maiden ACL campaign with a 5-0 annihilation of Chinese side Guizhou Renhe at Parramatta Stadium on Tuesday, reaching another remarkable milestone in the short two-season history of the club.
It was just the second time since the club’s inception the Wanderers had won by such a margin, their only other equally impressive goal haul coming in a 6-1 triumph over Adelaide in the A-League last season.
Goals have been hard to come by for the Wanderers, who are among the lowest-scoring teams this A-League campaign.
They create more chances than most sides, but sit at the bottom of the list when it comes to their conversion rate.
Popovic says, however, his side have been building towards such a victory having beaten Melbourne Heart 3-2 in the final round of the season then overcoming Korean side Ulsan 2-0 away in the ACL last week.
Now he hopes the goal-fest continues when they take on the Mariners at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday for a spot in the grand final.
“It’s always nice to score goals and I hope that continues on Saturday,” he said.
“I’ve said all along that I feel the goals are coming.
“We scored three against Melbourne Heart in a game full of pressure, then we scored two away and we scored five now.
“So you can see the confidence is building.”
Popovic says he’s watched his side grow in leaps and bounds since kicking off their ACL campaign.
Having been handed a 3-1 defeat and a footballing lesson by Ulsan in their opening ACL game two months ago, no one would have predicted the Wanderers to advance to the next round in the fashion they did, finishing top of their group with four victories in six group games.
“We’ve certainly improved since that first game,” he said.
“We’re learning how to control the game better and how to limit opportunities to the opposition.
“It’s a credit to the players that, after that first game, the belief was still there.
“We finished top of the group so, whoever we play, we look forward to it and we know we’re a chance.”
Matthew Skellett
Guest
I saw that Channel Ten News clip of WSW's win against Guizou Renhe , very good promotion for WSW and the HAL -i wouldn't be surprised plenty of interest has been pricked because of that little number :-)
AZ_RBB
Guest
The Guardian have published a pretty cool infographic of WSW - http://htmlimg3.scribdassets.com/7er9vnmrsw3oji70/images/1-0014c9be29.png Summary of it: - 74:52 for and against record - 105% increase in Facebook fans since last season - Over 37,000 jerseys sold since inception - 140% growth in membership since last season - 61% increase in TV viewership - Record home crowd of 19,585 Onwards and upwards from here :)
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
A loss to the Mariners and a win to Western Sydney in the Asian league, combined with the travel, doesn't augur well for the Mariners. However, they are often the neglected team of the competition, and I hope they will re-group and deliver a victory against the Wanderers. 5-0 would be nice!
Matthew Skellett
Guest
Us toowoo Poppa !!!! We watching and hoping for yah a great miracle Lorrddyyy !!! ;-)