The full-time whistle blew on Tuesday night at AAMI Park, and the feeling was a little unusual, writes David Weiner.
We’ll see you back here, then, in four nights time.
There was not quite the same post-game revelry or disappointment as you’d usually get after 90 minutes of this intensity; Jake Brimmer gave us a special memory; but we’re not quite done yet.
“It’s disappointing we conceded that goal, but that’s the beauty (of it) – we play them again here in a few days time,” Western United skipper Josh Risdon said.
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“If we put in a performance like that, and execute a few things then we’re still definitely in this, that’s for sure.”
For the first time since 2013, the Isuzu UTE A-League finals has two-legged ties in its Finals Series, in a bid to finish the season before the upcoming international break. Two-leg semis are par for the course at the business end in world football, but after a chaotic season adapting to fixture changes, this presented another unique challenge yet again for the players and coaches to adapt to.
Same stadium. No away goals. Twice in five days.
“It is a bit of a strange one,” Western United boss John Aloisi conceded.
“Because two legs, home and away; when you go into a different stadium and (are) playing in front of their crowd and then come back and play in front of your crowd, it might change.
“But this doesn’t change much because virtually it is like playing two halves of football.
“There might be a few more people on Saturday night, because it is a Tuesday night; it doesn’t really change the dynamic too much.
“It is different for Adelaide and City, if Adelaide don’t get a result there tomorrow night, it might be more of an uphill task but for us it is the same.”
Tony Popovic added: “Yeah it is different.
“You play a team home and away, at the same venue, four days apart. It is something we’re not accustomed to, of course, but I feel we have a lot more support come Saturday, a fantastic crowd, we’re halfway to achieving this part of the goal, that is making the Grand Final.”
The context did impact this contest.
Western, who had only played three nights earlier, came out with superb intensity – crunching tackles, bustling in midfield and extremely dynamic in their pressing game. There were no clear chances, but it felt as though the likes of Lachie Wales, Dylan Wenzell-Halls and Connor Pain could have some joy.
Victory adjusted, however, as a team with their class tends to do on the biggest stage.
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And with their depth in talent, and the added freshness of not having played the weekend before, they started to dominate proceedings in the second term.
That’s where the 180-minute dynamic came into it, and why this was well and truly only the entree. Both sides have set the stage for an all-out Cup tie on Saturday night.
Aloisi enthused: “We are well and truly in this tie.
“We are 1-0 down. We are back here. We don’t have to go away from home…we’re excited about Saturday night now. And the boys are too. They felt it; we can give it some game on Saturday.”
He continued: “We know we had the shorter turnaround.. we’re used to playing three games a week, because the last month that’s what we’ve done.
“The reaction was good – we didn’t leave ourselves open. At 1-0, you can leave yourselves open and cop another goal and then the tie can be more difficult. We kept calm, moving the ball and had our opportunities at the end that we didn’t make the most of.”
Western rallied again after going 1-0 down, but both sides had to play that balancing act of not going 2-0 down, or not naively letting the advantage became 1-1 heading into leg two.
“The maturity and improvement of the team is we didn’t get frustrated,” Popovic said.
“We didn’t leave ourselves open when we had a lot of ball in the second-half; we remained calm, we understood the game.
“It is a first leg; you don’t win the tie today, but we got that all important goal.”
Risdon added: “I feel like with the way we played that game, we had momentum so we felt like we could’ve pinched one back to level things up.
“But, in the back of your mind you don’t want to concede another goal. It is hard; it’s different to what we’re used to, playing two legs, we haven’t played that before in the league.
“It adds a different dimension.”
But now the stakes are clear again. A side that has been so defensively solid all year under Aloisi has a mandate to score; Victory, with their attacking riches, which inevitably proved the difference in a clutch moment, have a lead to protect.
“I’m not sure the dynamic will change too much,” Aloisi mused.
Another intriguing match, or something more akin to Western Sydney’s all-time epic against Brisbane Roar, when the two then fledgling managers met in a nine-goal thriller in 2016 in Parramatta?
The stage is set.
