It was another action-packed weekend, as a late Sydney FC goal broke Western Sydney hearts, Perth were humiliated and Adelaide’s wunderkind faltered when the stakes were highest. Plenty to get into.
Here are your A-League talking points.
Wanderers in finals dogfight after derby heartbreak
When Zac Sapsford duly put away an unmarked header deep into injury time at Allianz Stadium it looked certain the latest edition of the Sydney Derby would end in a stalemate. The scriptwriter had one more twist up their sleeve, though, as Jaiden Kucharski sealed an important three points for the Sky Blues with a 98th-minute winner.
Marko Rudan, under mounting pressure in Parramatta, now has a real challenge on his hands to lead WSW into the finals. Melbourne City’s visit to CommBank Stadium on Saturday now looms almost as a winner takes all affair.
Considering all the recent trouble the competition has faced, the sights and sounds of a well-populated if not sold-out ground and a tense, hard-fought battle on the pitch were great to see.
Perhaps not the most exciting game for the neutral, there was enough late drama to keep anyone watching on the edge of their seat. As the A-League ambles along towards the finals amid considerable off-field uncertainty, it was a good reminder of the scenes football is capable of producing.
(Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
Also encouraging was the lack of trouble in the stands. The RBB made their return, and the moronic wristband system for The Cove seemed to at least keep away any troublemakers from the Moore Park Road end of the ground.
Ten-man Bulls end Adelaide’s season despite Nestor magic
It’s undoubtedly been a horrendous campaign in the City of Churches, and the final nail was hammered by an unlikely source – Tommy Smith – as Adelaide conceded twice while boasting a man advantage on Friday evening. The lone goal managed by the Reds, unsurprisingly, came through the magic of Nestory Irankunda, the 18-year-old thrilling the Coopers Stadium faithful for the final time with a brilliant strike to open the scoring.
Perhaps no match better sums up Adelaide’s season. Apart from Irankunda’s influence there’s been precious little for those fans to cheer in 2023-24. It’s clear the forward line needs a shake-up over the off-season, and while Carl Veart’s job is still quite safe, he’ll know another campaign like this one will not be acceptable.
The Bulls, meanwhile, booked their playoffs place after two straight defeats had their top-six hopes in some doubt. Mile Sterjovski’s side have been far from consistent this season but possess the kind of attacking threat you need in sudden-death football, so I’m backing them to make some noise in the finals.
8-0 humbling a reminder of challenge facing Pelligra
I feel for Alen Stajcic. He’s a great coach, but it feels like Pep Guardiola himself couldn’t make the finals with this Perth Glory side. Glory’s latest humiliation came at the hands of a rampant Melbourne City at AAMI Park, with Tolgay Arslan notching a hat-trick to continue his brilliant form recently.
The protracted sale process in the west finally ended with property developer Ross Pelligra taking over at HBF Park back in February. Since then, Pelligra has looked engaged and has been saying all the right things to get the fan-base onside – truth be told, though, the supporters are probably just glad to have some stability at the club again after Tony Sage almost ran them into the ground.
Let’s be clear, there’s no quick fix for the new ownership here. As mentioned there’s plenty of work to do off-field in Perth, and the squad needs an overhaul if they’re going to be competitive in 2024-25. Having Pelligra at the helm – or anyone, for that matter – is inherently better than a Jets-like situation, but stakeholders need to keep things in perspective.
Sunday afternoon’s 8-0 humbling could well be a mere speed bump as Glory days return to this once-proud club. The onus is on Pelligra to ensure it doesn’t, rather, become the new normal.
Not the result Glory fans hoped for after travelling thousands of kilometres. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Quick hits
-They left it late but the Nix temporarily went top of the table after a Finn Surman goal, only for Mark Jackson’s Mariners to answer with a win of their own in Tarneit over the lowly Western United. The premiership race will go right down to the wire, it looks like.
-The longer this saga drags on, the more fearful I am that the Jets’ days are numbered. There must be a point where the APL and Football Australia say enough is enough – and I don’t think we’re far off that stage. At least the players gave their long-suffering supporters reason to smile, downing Brisbane 2-0 at Suncorp Stadium.
-Josh Nisbet should be this season’s Johnny Warren Medalist, but gee, Joe Lolley and Tolgay Arslan have also built very compelling cases themselves.
Grem
Roar Rookie
I don’t know about any, but definitely some and that certainly includes the Roar.
Waz
Roar Rookie
It was another good round of football. And while watching Roar as a supporter was totally depressing and familiar, it’s not lost how important that win was for Jets
Waz
Roar Rookie
“ It’s also amazing how many former * insert club name* players/juniors score against us”. There, fixed it for you. Any club can say that.
Grem
Roar Rookie
It’s also amazing how many former Sydney FC players/juniors score against us. The list would be quite large - Petratos, Antonis, Sapsford, etc.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Thanks David - the derby was brilliant. There was a good crowd, the Cove were amazing, the game was exciting and the finish was wonderful - a last moment goal by Kurcharski. I also liked how Talay acknowledged what the Cove did to be the 12th man and help get Sydney home. I also like how Sydney started with Matthew’s and Rodwell on the bench. This would never have happened in seasons gone by. Adelaide were the better team for 80 minutes and lost. Nestory’s goal was brilliant and I also rate Ibusuki. I think Ibusuki would be even better with Jovanovic next to him. It’s hard to predict what Macarthur will do in the next 5 minutes, let alone the finals! Perhaps City are back. Their team is coming together again and their confidence will be sky high after that win. I also felt sorry for Perth and Stajic as they are a better team than that. Their “glory” days will return with their new leadership. I really hope Newcastle are in next season as they are a great football area. However, if there’s no owner to “invest” in them then we have to move on. They are not the only “business” to go bust in Australia. Owners with deep pockets are hard to find. Anyone who supports a club that has no financial concerns should be sending an email of thanks to that owner!
Kitwally
Roar Rookie
“Perhaps not the most exciting game for the neutral”?! I watched from Queensland with my Mum and her partner who don’t watch football at all and they were enthralled and then wondered afterwards why there was nothing about the game on any websites or on the tv news………..
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
You still haven't answered the questions about Tuncliffe. You claimed he was one of the players Adelaide had trouble with at training but he was kept on because he had white line fever in games. Having watched him all season I have never seen any white line fever from him, he is lazy and doesn't want to track back or press hard enough technique and passing are good though. 80% of Adelaide player budget would be going on Ibusuki, Clough, Halloran , Mauk, Tuncliffe, Isais , Lopez, Kitto, Ansell and your relying on a guy on a scholarship to carry you.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
There was a lot of goal mouth action during the Sydney derby, Sydney dominated possesion as usual when LaCerna with the Sydney offside trap there was a lot of joy for the opposition. Antonson and Gomez wasted all the chances until Gomez got an easy tap in. Then young players came on and scored where the old players couldn't. Ninkovic was potentially in on goal twice but his old legs just lacked the speed to get to the ball first, you have to question a defence when a 39 year old is in that position twice. The speed of Piraeus was what caused Sydney all the problems. Adelaide a lot of attention on Irakunda but not on the rest of the team, Halloran he would be one of the top paid players there and came on played very casual. What about Tunnclife would be a top payed player at the club and they generally concede goals when he plays. Veart has the talent in Adelaide but the money goes to his golden oldies. Stajic seems to be the golden goose , he should be getting sacked after that performance. You cant argue that the loss of Khelifi and Bozanic did him in, Khelifi has not done the business at either club. Stajic supporters seem to be hanging onto two words he said. Newcastle Jets are in the finals of the women. I dont buy the Jets are doomed if they dont get new owners before next season. There have got to be serious question marks if some guy from Ballarat makes a post about it better being to dump the club than continue and Vandeberg supports it about Vandeberg. Then you have Vandeberg posting an image of a betting recipt on his twitter this weekend where someone just missed out on thousands due to one A-league result.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
ariath piol for anyone who has paid close attention to anything i post, is a name i mentioned almost 3 years ago (i had put an article up on him as well) He is one of the only south australian players that i put up a fight for to be signed by Adelaide United - however with the sheer volume of talent with african heritage coming through the state in attacking positions, he was passed over. i was very surprised he had no other serious a league interest after being the best teenage attacker in the SA NPL with metrostars. Piol ended up paying his own way to Sydney with a couple of the other adelaide boys that were passed over and after a recommendation from yours truly, he was signed to the wanderers academy. Unfortunately like a lot of teenagers who go to the wanderers, he got lost in the shuffle of the sheer volume of players at the club and was soon on his way to macarthur. regardless of the result, I was absolutely ecstatic that he scored and had a great chat with him after the match. macarthur are ever so quietly building a very strong south australian core of attacking talent (raphael, piol, bernado)