Western United recorded their first-ever win against Melbourne City on Thursday night, winning 2-1 at AAMI Park.
Line-up
Lachie Wales started up top with Iker Guarrotxena and Besart Berisha.
Luke Duzel held his starting place, as did Ryan Scott between the sticks.
Our team to face City is in! #WUNvMCY #RiseUpWestside #WUFC
— Western United FC (@wufcofficial) April 1, 2021
The match
City gained an early lead through Craig Noone. Jamie Maclaren’s low cross found Noone who calmly finished past Ryan Scott.
United’s best chance of the first half came via Lachie Wales, whose long-range strike forced a good save from Tom Glover.
A five-minute flurry in the second half by United saw them take the lead.
A superb team move was finished off by former City player Lachie Wales for the equaliser.
Dia ➡️ Pierias ➡️ Berisha ➡️ Wales#WUNvMCY #RiseUpWestside #WUFC pic.twitter.com/pkEPFeCGuh
— Western United FC (@wufcofficial) April 1, 2021
Minutes later, Besart Berisha scored a stunning goal to put the Green and Black ahead.
City pressed for an equaliser but couldn’t capitalise on their chances.
United held on for their first-ever win against City in dramatic circumstances.
What Mark Rudan said
On the match
“Did we ride our luck? Yes, we did… you only get lucky when you persevere, when you work hard, when you stay together, when you have belief in your teammates and yourself.
“Sometimes you ride your own luck, and we certainly deserved a little bit of that.
“I think the most important thing is we have to move on really quickly.
“We need to change our mentality – we’ve got a lot of games coming up.
“It’s good to get the monkey off the back.”
On Diamanti and Berisha
“Everyone knows the brilliance of Alessandro Diamanti.
“He comes on and changes the game – that’s what he does.
“That’s why he’s the best player in the competition.
“Besart Berisha… does what he does best and what he’s done through his whole career and scores the winning goal – much deserved.”
Going forward
“We’ve got a game in four days we’ve got to turn around very quickly.
“What we’ve had is an inconsistency in results, not so much in performances.
“We’ll take the win but if we think too much about it then we won’t move on to the next game which is Newcastle away from home.
“We need to prepare extremely well for Newcastle because our objective is nothing but three points.”
Next match
United travel to NSW to take on the Jets on Easter Monday.
