Perth Glory goalscorer Bruno Fornaroli was delighted to bring in the new year on a positive note following a challenging 2019.
The Uruguayan striker netted Glory’s third goal of the night to wrap up a convincing 3-0 win against Central Coast Mariners as the Hyundai A-League Premiers signed off 2019 with four wins in a row.
Fornaroli started the year in purgatory at Melbourne City and did not play a league match for more than nine months before making his Perth bow in Round 1 of the 2019/20 campaign.
After notching six goals in 11 matches for Tony Popovic’s side, the 32-year-old paid tribute to his new coach and teammates for turning their slow start to the season into a winning streak to close out the calendar year.
“It’s a very important day, especially for me, for a Uruguayan, for my kids, to celebrate it with a goal and the win,” Fornaroli told FOX Sports.
“I think we find a way and now we keep going. We don’t change, that is the key.
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“We still believe in our football. The first couple of games we don’t get a result, but we still believe.
“Now I think it’s changed and it’s time to enjoy and win points.
“[Popovic] told me in the first couple of games ‘you need to come back’ and gave me the confidence.
“Now I want to show him and by teammates, because they gave me a very warm welcome when I came here.”
Neil Kilkenny revealed the 2-1 defeat to Central Coast in Perth’s own back yard in Round 5 provided the motivation to turn the tables despite the blustery conditions in Gosford.
“It was disappointing, the last performance against them, so we needed to put on the performance again and we did that,” midfielder Kilkenny said.
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“We knew the wind was going to be strong. We could feel it in the first half but we’ve been working hard on the training ground all week.
“The new players are getting used to the team and getting their fitness and you can see us really starting to gel.”
Glory slipped to the bottom of the table after Round 8, but have risen to third following their streak of four straight wins, something coach Popovic feels is worth celebrating.
“We’ve got a 10-11 day gap before we play next against Adelaide at home,” said Popovic.
“We’ll enjoy a few drinks and enjoy what was a very good way to finish 2019.”
Round 13
Wellington Phoenix v Central Coast Mariners
Saturday, 4 January 2020
Sky Stadium
Kick off: 5.00pm AEDT
