Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City: A-League live scores, blog, highlights

You see the difference between taking guys to that match for the first time vs taking people to the Big Blue dullathon last week. Your three will be back again. Anyone who watched the Big Blue, then watched this classic from Parramatta must be wondering if it's even the same sport. A great match, more scoring than I predicted, but the game panned out as expected, Wanderers very tight down back then bursting forward with some brilliant passages.. The pressure kept up by Bridge in particular on the M City defenders caused numerous turnovers and prevented City getting too many opportunities up until halfway through the second half....

Fuss Thanks for the pics,greatly appreciated.See the point about Nichol's lob and agree but in the other 2 pics there is reasonable doubt for there certainly was a player offside before Castelan broke through and in the other it is highly debatable if the scorer was behind the ball (apply benefit of the doubt seldom used by referees and assistants) when it was struck and there is no doubt that the following snaps would show Castelan's ball travelled forward. Thanks again,really enjoyed the game though the defending had a huge questionmark behind it. Cheers jb

Passive offside rule needs to be reviewed and changed. Santalab should have been ruled offside. Only let players who have no role in the attacking play from the passing to the scoring be deemed passive offside. It will simplify this rule. If you saw the same passage of play in an EPL game 100% positive that Santalab would have been ruled offside every time. From a neutral fan who really enjoyed a corker of a game. The other 8 teams need not bother. These 2 will play off in the final.

JB, I'd have to agree with Fuss here on all 3 occassions, the Santalab goal maybe a bigger debate, but the Bridge goal, he was behind the ball at all times, you do not need defenders or even a GK between you & goal when ball is front of you. This was definitely a goal, no debate here.

I confirm Judge Fuss' adjudications on no.1 and no. 3, they both look pretty straightforward (and underscore just how hopeless City's back four has been most of the season). Personally, I think no. 2 is less clear cut.

jb I've just reviewed the 3rd WSW goal. When Nicols chips the ball over Sorensen, the ball is closer to the goal than Mark Bridge. Therefore Mark Bridge is not in an offside position. http://tinypic.com/r/al0zmo/9 Plus... Here is Castelen ON side when Bridge plays the ball (Santalab is offside - I say he's passive offside) http://tinypic.com/r/15fjimp/9 Here is Santalab when Castelen squares the ball to him - the ball is closer to the goal than Santalab, so Santalab is on side http://tinypic.com/r/mhv8nq/9

jb "how a player can score a goal and be deemed “passive”." Because there was an intervening action after the original off-side positioning before the goal was scored "Not only was Castelan offside when the ball was played forward (give Santalab the benefit of the doubt) but so too was his,Castelan’s, pass played “forward” to an offside.” passive” Santalab." No. Castelan was not offside when Bridge played the ball forward. Yes, Santalab was. No. When Castelan played the ball to Santalab, the ball was closer to the goal than Santalab "Your thoughts? .. on Bridge's goal" I'll review & get back to you Bad defending, or was it well-executed & smart attacking? Aren't most goals - apart from strikes of individual brilliance - the result of 'bad defending'? When Barcelona scores goals similar to what we saw last night, do we say "it was bad defending from the opposition", or do we gush about how good Barcelona were to put the ball in the net multiple times?

Fuss - With your up to date knowledge of the rules can you please explain how a player can score a goal and be deemed "passive".Not only was Castelan offside when the ball was played forward (give Santalab the benefit of the doubt) but so too was his,Castelan's, pass played "forward" to an offside." passive" Santalab. Not to denigrate from a great night's entertainment It also would pay you to look at the goal in which Nichols attempted to "lob" the ball over the outrushing Sorensen,which he did successfully ,but in doing so actually "passed" the ball to Bridge who was "technically" offside as there was only one defender between him and the goal.The rule used to say 2 defenders.(including the keeper) Your thoughts? Apart from those decisions,right or wrong, a great night's entertainment for the fans of not only the two teams but the game,however for the purist some of the "defending" bordered on the unbelievable.and points again to the weaknesses in our system that forbids the "build - up" of larger,talented squads.This was particularly evident in the back line of City in the early part of the game.Despite that some of the execution in the goal scoring was right out of the top drawer, Cheers jb

The 3 full time refs are considered to be the most senior in the league. This was a clash between the top 2 teams in the league. It has seemed like a top fixture for a while now. The best decision for the game would have been to place one of the senior referees for this game. If that senior referee made mistakes or calls I disagreed with, would I have complained? You bet I would have. But I would not be making the criticism I am now of the decision to allocate a non-full-time referee for this high profile fixture.

Give it a break about 'need full-time refs'. 1. Even the biggest leagues in the world don't have all full-time professional refs. 2. Full-time professional refs also make mistakes - Aleague has 3 full-time refs. Does this stop anyone from complaining about them?

Feel bad for the ref. Out of his depth. This needed a full time ref. Bad calls went both ways.

My goodness what a game! At 3-0 we were truly in Wanderland. But all it took was a couple of minutes of complacency, lazy defending and lack of intensity and the best strike force in the league brought the game back to life. One of the most eventful games I have ever attended. The quality of foot ball was right up there as well. Very little of the game felt like it was played out in the middle of the pitch. Real end to end stuff. We can't drop in intensity like this regardless of the lead. We needed to create a good goal difference tonight when we were on top. Regardless it's great to have a good lead at the top of the table at this point of the season. Visit to the Docklands next week will be massive. The crowd of 14k is completely wrong. I know what 14k looks like. They're basically saying 1/3 of the stadium was empty. Couldn't be further from the truth. I entered without scanning my ticket. 3 or 4 gates just had a GO sign permanently fixed on them. Was comfortably 16k maybe pushing 17k. Atmosphere was spectacular! Took 3 guys for the first time and they were blown away by the experience.

Nah complete biased referring. It was shocking.

If only Brisbane Roar could perform in the manner of WSW & MCFC tonight. Unfortunately, there are too many pensioners, and that is not Aloisi's fault.

With plenty of football left in the season I'm happy enough for their confidence to be taken down a peg.... All the more reason to work harder to take out some of those lapses. Commiserations stevo and thanks for the most enjoyable night at parra for a while... would have said this even if you'd equalized. A great game from 2 teams that came to play with some great goals and a great unfolding narrative. Steve.... trust me, you're missing out. Fuss I've not seen the replay yet so thanks, that's what I figured.

Good game ...

No problem. I'm sure you were entertained but not sure the same could be said of the supporters. Tactically I think we got it wrong and should have changed things at half time or earlier. Popo setup just nicely to defend tightly and exploit our defensive frailties. Didn't help having Paddy leave the field early with an injury. Anyway, it was a tremendous fightback from the lads and something I don't think would have happened in the old days. Bruno's goal was world class standard.

My apologies, Stevo. Bad luck for tonight, but thanks for giving WSW players a fright & taking their confidence down a couple of pegs!

How on this earth did we get from 3:0 to 4:3 and with a man down????? A Friday night belter!!!

That's not me Fuss!