Nicolas Milanovic came off the bench to devastating effect for Western Sydney, bagging a goal and an assist as Western Sydney Wanderers scored three goals in 13 second-half minutes to beat Macarthur FC 3-1 at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
The Bulls were by far and away the more dominant of the two sides in the first half on Monday and had multiple chances to take the lead but they were made to pay after the break.
Brought on in place of Milos Ninkovic, Milanovic opened the scoring with a rasping effort in the 57th minute before teeing up teammate Sonny Kittel to score his first Isuzu UTE A-League goal just eight minutes later.
The Wanderers then wrapped up the win in the 70th minute with Dutchman Jorrit Hendrix rifling a ball beyond Bulls goalkeeper Filip Kurto from the edge of the box.
The home side did pull one back in the 86th minute as the fit-again Matthew Millar pounced on a loose ball inside the box to reduce the deficit to two.
However the Wanderers avoided any late drama in Campbelltown to seal back-to-back away wins in the Isuzu UTE A-League and move four points clear of seventh-placed Melbourne City on the ladder.
“I thought fist half, jeez, after those first 5-10 minutes where we were actually ok, we were very poor,” said Marko Rudan after the game on Paramount+. “The subs made a difference and the energy that they brought and the pace made a real difference for us and we got the win.
“As coaches you go with your gut. You see the game and you say ok well we need to fix a few things here.
“You’ve got players on the bench who can come in and do a job and it was about them understanding their roles and responsibilities and going out there and winning the game for us.”
The Wanderers fashioned the first genuine chance of the game with midfielder Kittel sliding the ball beyond the Bulls defence and into the path of Marcus Antonsson, however the Swede’s effort was well saved by Kurto.
Western Sydney goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas then produced an outstanding save to thwart Macarthur in the 11th minute, denying Ulises Davila from point blank range, before Jack Clisby then cleared a Jake Hollman effort off the line.
Now in the ascendency, Macarthur saw another good chance go begging in the 24th minute as the ever-dangerous Davila played Raphael Borges Rodrigues in down the right but the young forward dragged his shot wide of the far post, much to the dismay of his teammate and captain.
Playing in his 500th career match, French forward Valere Germain was inches away from opening the scoring in the 41st minute as he escaped his marker at a corner, however his glancing header flew narrowly wide of the far post.
Continuing their dominance into the second half Macarthur went close once again, this time Germain saw his side-footed effort deflected wide of the target just 90-seconds after the restart.
But against the run of play it was the Wanderers who took the lead and it came from the boot of substitute Milanovic.
Replacing Ninkovic, the 22-year-old released Brandon Borrello down the left with a quick throw-in before receiving the return pass, driving into the area and then unleashing a venomous effort across Kurto and into the top corner to break the deadlock.
Fellow substitute Dylan Pierias then had a glorious chance to double the visitors’ lead in the 63rd minute however the Wanderers made it 2-0 soon after and it was Milanovic at the heart of the move once again.
Released down the left by a beautiful flick from Jack Clisby, Milanovic whipped a pinpoint cross-field pass into the path of the unmarked Kittel who, after steadying himself with a touch, drilled the ball beyond Kurto to make it 2-0.
The away side then secured all three points with time to spare in Campbelltown as Aidan Simmons’ cross from the right was cushioned down by Kittel and into the path of Hendrix who smashed the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box to make it 3-0 in the 70th minute.
Returning after a long injury lay-off, substitute Matt Millar reduced the deficit to two in the 86th minute, firing the ball beyond Thomas to make it 3-1.
Temperatures were raised at full-time as Wanderers hero Milanovic was involved in a heated discussion with Bulls captain Davila which then prompted a melee as both sides were leaving the field.
It was the Wanderers though who were heading home the happier from Campbelltown, with the result moving them just a point behind fourth-placed Macarthur but crucially, now four points clear of Melbourne City who remain seventh on the ladder.
With back-to-back wins on the board the Wanderers have bounced back from a difficult position which ultimately saw them drop out of the top six following three-straight losses in the space of 10 days in March.
“There wasn’t much time in between that City game and the Perth game to work on things structurally,” said Rudan when asked how he and his staff have helped change the Wanderers’ fortunes.
“One thing you don’t learn in coaching courses is how to manage situations. I guess the bonus was spending (time) as a team together and being in a bubble, so to speak for those three days in Perth.
He continued: “I relaxed them, I spoke to them and I thought to myself, if I’m gonna look tense and isolate myself, they’ll see that and they might go into their shell as well.
“So we went out for dinner, we got a couple of bottles of wine out, we just relaxed them and just had some fun.
He added: “(I) had a good chat with every single one of the staff and players during that time and we got some nuggets out of them in terms of how they’re feeling as humans first of all, because you have to treat them like that.”
