Chris Ikonomidis can do it all.
Or at least it certainly seemed that way against Brisbane Roar.
REPORT: Keogh the match-winner for Glory despite late Roar rally
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Perth Glory’s intelligent and incisive young winger was close to unstoppable at nib Stadium on Saturday night, tormenting Roar right-back Jack Hingert with his movement and ability on the ball.
The highlight of the 23-year-old’s exciting 86-minute performance was undoubtedly his assist for Andy Keogh’s early opener in the hosts’ 2-1 victory.
Ikonomidis, capped six times by the Caltex Socceroos, strode gracefully to the byline, sucked several defenders towards him, and skilfully squared for an unmarked Keogh to convert at close range.
RD 1 âš½
RD 2 âš½
RD 3 âš½Andy Keogh is on ??? for @PerthGloryFC.#ALeague #PERvBRI
? @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/i87MTumO03— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) November 3, 2018
His work outside those sublime attacking moments was just as encouraging.
The ex-Lazio winger demonstrated all of his attacking nous in picking the right opportunities to drop deep or step inside to make room for the rampant Jason Davidson.
Defensively, Ikonomidis even topped his team’s count for both tackles (three) and duels (13).
Those efforts didn’t go unnoticed by Tony Popovic.
“You can see it yourself. He’s a real talent,” the Glory boss told Fox Sports after the match.
“He’s a young player and he’ll be a lot better as the year goes on – he hasn’t played a lot of football in the last three or four months. But he’s a great talent and you can see [Ikonomidis and Keogh] are starting to link up well.”
For a player yet to really experience a full, uninterrupted campaign of senior professional football, the scorer of Perth’s late winner at Melbourne Victory appears impressively close to being the well-rounded final product.
