Western Sydney have extended their winning streak to five games thanks to a 2-0 defeat of Central Coast on Sunday.
Mitch Nicholls set up Brendon Santalab’s opener and slotted the second to lift the Wanderers to second place on the A-League table and on equal points with leaders Melbourne Victory.
The clash at Central Coast Stadium was the first the side have won at the Gosford venue since their inaugural season in 2012/13.
This encounter will perhaps be remembered more for the Red and Black Bloc supporter group’s first-half walkout, but for those of the 10,519 crowd that remained, it was attacking football at its frenetic best.
And Tony Popovic’s men were a class above.
They very nearly opened their account in a frenzied first few minutes when Nicholls miskicked a long-ranged shot wide of an open goal while Mariners custodian Paul Izzo was caught way off his line.
Seven minutes later the playmaker almost atoned, bulging the back of the net before being ruled offside.
The returning Romeo Castelen kept the momentum flowing by rattling the post, the ball almost comically rebounding and sailing straight into Izzo’s outstretched arms.
Castelen was a rampant force down the right flank as the Mariners’ back line toiled, but he undermined his own efforts by missing a swag of chances.
In the end it was super sub Santalab who made good in the 66th minute, on his first shot and less than 10 minutes after his introduction.
Nicholls set the goal up gorgeously with a dink down the middle for the onrushing striker, who fought off a yellow-shirted defender before making no mistake against Izzo.
The Mariners took back a little of the possession they lost in the first half and made some bold moves on the counter-attack, including one late on when Irish striker Roy O’Donovan was denied by Wanderers keeper Andrew Redmayne in extra-time.
But a bare moment passed before Nicholls cemented the result, latching onto a Joshua Sotirio through ball to fire home.
The Wanderers’ five match winning run was the best since their 10-game streak in 2012/13.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Equally entertaining does not mean a high standard of play has been achieved. We have to mark WSW down yesterday because their finishing was woeful. All other gradings in the good to very good range (noting Mariners are a pretty ordinary outfit).
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Fox ratings: 51k
josh
Guest
Yes everyone pushes in to the middle leaving the outer bays empty. A 'spread out people' call at the start of each match would fix that.
marron
Roar Guru
don't get me wrong buddy he's not pique :lol: , but he's gone above my expectations that's for sure. i remain nervous. but less so. :lol:
SVB
Guest
I disagree. I think a lot of people simply don't bother to try to even go to a game or get tickets because of the perception that the place is always full. Anyway we will see when Pirtek gets knocked down to be upgraded, and we play one or two games out of ANZ Stadium how much capacity we can get.
Buddy
Guest
Yes the crowd should be a concern to all really. Next two weeks should be sell outs no excuses. Saturday night games in the best time slots. I am ducking Christmas party for first one but need to find some takers for our season passes for Victory game unfortunately as prior engagement booked a long time ago. I do find it difficult to support the idea of a bigger stadium based on our regular crowds....better stadium yes, but bigger for one , two, maybe three games a season at best!
Kaks
Roar Guru
Excited about the prospect of MV at home in a couple of weeks. Hopefully we can march in unison to the stadium
Buddy
Guest
Fair call......I agree he has stepped up and his cover defence is good and scrambling is always outstanding. I like his defensive work with his head but two areas of his game leave me cold.......his distribution skills and heading the ball when joining an attack..........but glad he is there!
SVB
Guest
Don't know why my last comment got moderated, but just mentioned in a world where everybody always is time poor and has a busy schedule, I guess that around 20-25% no show is to be expected. Just have to wait until we get the bigger stadium built and that should get the crowd average up.
SVB
Guest
It's the current world we live in where around 25% of supporters always have something else planned to do, and it's out of their control or is not their fault etc.. Then there is the RBB section which seems to be the most sparse section of the stadium on the sides of the northern end. The smart thing would be to move to a bigger stadium which I guess we are still waiting on for the rebuild of Pirtek Stadium.
AZ_RBB
Guest
All I want are good crowds! None of this 14k rubbish. These are our biggest games since the ACL last year. If you're not coming out for these, then I just don't know what to say.
SVB
Guest
I am loving Dimas and Andreu more and more. Especially when they come back for the ball and start the build up. I am sure the likes of Nichols, Castelen and Bridgey also appreciate it, as well as Topor who is now looking like a defender who is calm and composed on the ball. On Vidosic, I think he is still a very good and dangerous player. I still always feel that he is the most likely player to score when he is near the goal. I think the problem is more communication than anything else. Maybe the runs he is making isn't being read by the players or he is simply running into the wrong area. Have to persist with him as he is still a classy player.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I said from pretty much pre-season that this is the best midfield we've had in our short history. My only concern is finding the right role for Vidosic. He seems a little lost at the moment. My other concern is that a lot of people aren't that appreciative of possession based football and actually prefer a route 1 direct style. It really irks me when I hear jeers when we're moving the ball around patiently and effectively.
SVB
Guest
Well we won 2-0. It's not a thrashing with lots of goals, but scoring two goals is something a lot of teams would be happy with if they keep the other team scoreless. We are the opposite of our season one side where we hold the ball a lot more now rather than defending and countering. As much as I enjoyed watching the likes of Shinji and Hersi, watching this team has a much better feeling to it.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Great football doesn't always equate to goals. You can have a great football match without any goals at all. At the same time you can have a fairly rubbish match where a couple of freak moments of brilliant finishing masks an other dull 90mins.
marron
Roar Guru
disagree MF. put those dutch genes into action mate! it's enjoyable to watch. chances are being created. they're doing enough in the end up front to win anyway.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The fact that the finishing was so woeful means you cannot rate WSW's game as "great football", but certainly the penetration, against a pretty ordinary Mariners outfit, was consistent for the whole match..
marron
Roar Guru
to be fair to topor-stanley he has stepped up immeasurably in this regard.
josh
Guest
There's a buzz back at Wanderland that wasn't there last season, NTS is a different player - it's great to watch and great for the A League when the bigger teams are doing well. 2 tough weeks coming up though.
SVB
Guest
Hopefully Kalac works with him. He was weak at coming out for the ball when it came to corners and crosses. Didn't have enough presence. But he seems to have improved in that part of his game. I do always remember him as being a pretty good shot stopper in his days at Melbourne Heart.