A-League Men: Brandon Borrello scores brace against Macarthur to rescue Wanderers a point

It was the unbelievable finish to a Campbelltown blockbuster that could play a significant role in shaping the Isuzu UTE A-League top six.

Macarthur FC hosted Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday night, and after falling behind to a Brandon Borrello strike, the Bulls answered back through Lachlan Rose and Al Hassan Toure to lead 2-1 in second-half stoppage time.

Toure’s goal came two minutes after Wanderers substitute Kusini Yengi hit the side netting after rounding Macarthur keeper Filip Kurto; that goal could have seen Western Sydney take all three points, but instead they were staring down a 2-1 defeat with just minutes to play.

Then came the ultimate finale: in the 96th minute, a free-kick swung into Macarthur’s defensive penalty area shaped as the Wanderers’ last hope. Up stepped Borrello to secure his brace with a brilliant header and steal a point back for the visitors, in a game which was truly unpredictable until its thrilling end.

The Bulls would have climbed into seventh spot on the A-League Men table had they held on for all three points against the Wanderers. Instead, they sit one spot off the bottom, as one of four teams locked on 26 points in a logjam beneath sixth-placed Sydney FC on 29 points.

Incredibly, should Melbourne Victory defeat Perth Glory on Sunday afternoon, Tony Popovic’s side would move up to 27 points, leaving Macarthur on the foot of the table – but still within three points of the finals places. It would mean, with three rounds to play, the six teams placed 7th-12th would all be within a win of breaking into the top six.

MATCH REPORT: Three games, three wins: Bulls boss sets ambitious target in hunt for a finals spot

Borrello hits double figures in relentless homecoming: ‘It’s only the start’

When off-season Wanderers signing Sulejman Krpić departed the club in January, he did so having scored just two goals in 13 games and nine starts as the club’s first-choice number nine. In his place, head coach Marko Rudan fashioned a striker out of traditional winger Brandon Borrello.

It’s proved to be one of the masterstrokes of the current A-League Men campaign.

The Socceroo has been a revelation leading the line for the red and black. On Saturday night, he took his goals tally for the season to 10 with a brace against Macarthur FC, and has now scored six times in his last seven games.

Borrello’s Saturday-night brace put his full array of talents on display. The first came from distance, buried from the outside of the box into the bottom-left corner. He produced the second from a glancing header amongst a sea of bodies, in the sixth minute of extra time to steal the Wanderers a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw.

Borrello admits he’s loving his time back in Australia, returning to the A-League Men ahead of the 2022-23 campaign for the first time since 2017 after a stint abroad in Germany.

Speaking to Network 10 after the 2-2 draw, Borrello explained how, in a surprise off-season phone call, Wanderers boss Rudan took just 15 minutes to convince him of a return.

“When I was sitting on the couch over in Europe, I didn’t have a club at the time,” he said. “It was going into pre-season, the boss called me out of nowhere. We started talking for 15 minutes and I knew the deal was done.

“I think the boss, his main focus was making sure I’d enjoy football again. He instilled a sort of structure, a bit of passion as well, into the team first and foremost. In myself he gave me a lot of belief, and I think that’s gone a long way.

“I think it’s only the start of being back here, and what I’m able to do.”

Late Bulls ‘heartbreaker’ makes the top six race all the more intriguing

As Macarthur FC foundation player Lachlan Rose walked out onto Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night, he did so as the club’s matchday captain for the very first time.

It was an occasion he described as both a privilege and an honour, and after scoring one of Macarthur’s two second-half goals, Rose was just minutes away from one of the great comeback wins of his burgeoning career.

But then came the “heartbreaker” off the head of Borrello in the 96th minute.

“We dug deep. We performed really well today, and that’s just a killer,” Rose told Network 10 post-match. “No words, honestly. It feels like a loss.”

Saturday night’s draw extended Macarthur’s winless run to four games – but coming from behind to push fourth-placed Western Sydney to the brink of defeat was an encouraging sign for the Bulls.

Rose revealed his very first pre-match speech as Macarthur captain centred on a defiant message to his side’s doubters.

“I said to the boys before the game: ‘People have written us off all week, everyone said it was going to be a walk in the park for Wanderers… let’s go out and stuff it, show everyone what we’re made of. Stuff what everyone says. Everyone’s going to have comments, but we’ve got to prove everyone wrong’.

“I think we did today.”