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Western Sydney Wanderers FC
0
Match Complete
Newcastle Jets
2
| 94' |  | R. Vargas | ||
| 74' |  | J. Hoffman | ||
| 25' | | J. Hoffman |
| 18 | Shots | 13 | ||
| 5 | On Target | 5 | ||
| 14 | Fouls | 16 | ||
| 8 | Corners | 4 | ||
| 0 | Offsides | 4 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 1 |
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Round 5 is upon us, after an interminably long international break, and brings together underperformers Western Sydney Wanderers and Newcastle Jets at Spotless Stadium in Sydney’s Olympic park at 7:50pm (AEDT). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.
Newcastle is in terrible shape so far this season; in second bottom with a couple of draws from their first four games. Last season’s grand finalists will have entered this season with lofty ambitions, and a no-win start after four is not what they had hoped for.
The Wanderers have fared a little better, with one win and a couple of draws. Their fifth place is probably the benchmark for Markus Babbel’s side, despite his sideline hysterics suggesting he’s disappointed in his side’s start.
In Round 4 the Wanderers dropped two points at home against Brisbane, a 2-2 result cancelling out their blistering start.
Spaniard Oriel Riera banged in both goals (and had another disallowed) within 20 minutes against the Roar, but the Roar came back to secure a draw.
This new Wanderers squad has yet to really gel, and Babbel will be hoping to see more cohesion and defensive posture – especially in this game against the high pressing high tempo Newcastle.
In Round 4 the Jets were fortunate to pinch a draw from visitors Sydney FC. Nick Cowburn’s 87th-minute tap-in from a Dimi Petratos free-kick spared Newcastle from another loss in a nightmare start.
The season started strongly for the Jets off the field. Key playmaker Petratos signed a long-term deal, Ronny Vargas was back and fully fit – but so far there’s been little to show for those ambitions on the pitch.
Indeed, Petratos’ recent omission from the Socceroos squad may hopefully spur him into another level for his club.
Unless he can start to arrest the Jets’ parlous opening to the season, his hopes of an Asian Cup call-up will be slim to none.
Markus Babbel will just be looking for more “green shoots” from his new team. In Josh Risdon he probably has the best fullback in the competition while in possession, and Riera has proven himself to be a canny goalscorer in this league (where finishing is often the biggest problem for teams).
He will just need the other pieces – and maybe some more cutting edge from German import Alexander Baumjohann – to come together for the team to finally click.
Prediction
This poses as a close one – with two reasonably evenly matched teams on paper. Newcastle will be desperate to take 3 points from this, but the Wanderers at home should have the mettle to hold them off.
Western Sydney Wanderers 1 – Newcastle Jets 1
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