Western United had a case of déjà vu on in Round 2 of the Isuzu UTE A-League Men season, drawing 1-1 with Western Sydney Wanderers after a quality performance at Ironbark Fields.
The Wanderers took the lead against the run of play in the first half but Hiroshi Ibusuki hit back immediately after half-time with his first Western United goal.
Noah Botic hit the post and United’s players continued to play with swagger until the end, falling just short of finding a winner.
Western United Team News
James Donachie missed out on the contest with calf tightness, meaning Dylan Leonard was elevated to the starting line-up for the first time.
Kane Vidmar came onto the bench in the only change to the squad from Round 1 with Tomoki Imai again leading the team out as captain in Ben Garuccio’s absence.
First Half
Western United started well against the wind in Tarneit, combining well in the final third and looking to get on the front.
Angus Thurgate was popping up in the box again after scoring United’s first goal of the season last week and Matthew Grimaldi was seeing plenty of possession on the left-hand side.
For all of United’s positive play to begin the game, the Wanderers broke forward and took the lead with their first chance on goal when Borrello stole a march on the Green and Black defence and fired his finished beyond Matt Sutton.
John Aloisi’s men were confident on the ball and after the disappointment of conceding, the defence stood up superbly to limit any space for the visitors to work in.
The only chances the Wanderers were really able to create came from around the edge of the box and United’s defence was able to block each effort effectively, with only a Nicolas Milanovic header briefly testing Sutton before half-time.
Second Half
United set out to begin the second half as it did the first, and this time made good on that positivity with an early goal.
Grimaldi remained a thorn in Western Sydney’s side and worked some space on the left wing before clipping a ball up towards the back post.
Jack Clisby’s defensive header fell straight to Ibusuki and the Japanese star made no mistake with the finish, thumping his right boot through the ball as it fell out of the sky and sending Ironbark Fields into raptures.
Botic and Rhys Bozinovski came off the bench on the hour mark and within minutes the former was in the thick of the action.
The young striker pressed Tristan Vidackovic into a mistake in the box and United had a number of efforts blocked by some last-ditch defending as the Wanderers scrambled to clear.
Moments later, Botic broke through the centre of the pitch and bent a shot that seemed bound for the bottom right corner, but it agonisingly bounced into the post and away from danger.
That was as close as United came to a winner but the hosts remained on the front foot until the final whistle with the Tarneit crowd right behind them.
