Rewind back to May and Western United were hoisting the Isuzu UTE A-League Championship trophy aloft for the first time in their short history.
That triumph was built on a stingy defence – one that had the second-best defensive record in the A-League Men.
Now fast forward to October 16 and that strength is fast becoming Western’s Achilles heel after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sydney FC at AAMI Park, where the defending champions have tasted back-to-back losses to begin 2022-23.
Western – without injured star Tomoki Imai following his injury in Round 1 – have conceded five goals through two rounds amid Leo Lacroix’s unconvincing start to the campaign. To put that into perspective, it took the club seven matches last term to ship the same amount.
“Absolutely some real cause for concern for John Aloisi,” Network 10 reporter Michael Zappone said post-game in Melbourne.
“They’re back here on Friday night against Macarthur, a red-hot Macarthur.
“A huge week for him. Big question marks over whether some experienced players come back.
“Alessandro Diamanti – I was talking to him today and he says he is ready to go. It’s only a matter of days between games and I think we might see Diamanti return to the bench.
“And Aleksandar Prijovic. He was outstanding for Western United last season. He had an interrupted pre-season, a shorter pre-season but he isn’t too far away.
“Big decisions for Aloisi to make to perhaps rush those two back. They need something to get their season underway.”
Kilkenny laments ‘soft goals’
Western made a bright start but they were overpowered by visiting Sydney FC.
Josh Risdon put Western ahead at AAMI Park but the hosts were pegged back by the Sky Blues, who heaped further misery on John Aloisi’s defence.
Western conceded two penalties in the first half and while one was saved by Jamie Young, there was no denying Adam Le Fondre a second time, with Robert Mak and Joe Lolley on target against a beleaguered defence.
“The game is won and lost in both boxes. We need to get back to defending well,” Western midfielder Neill Kilkenny said.
“We’ve let in some soft goals this season.”
He added: “We have conceded a couple of goals this season. Hopefully we can keep a clean sheet or the score down.
“We probably should’ve been two or three up after the first 20 minutes but they had a penalty and come back into it. We need to look forward to the next game now.”
SUNDAY RECAP
WESTERN UNITED 1-3 SYDNEY FC
MATCH REPORT: SYDNEY OFF THE MARK AGAINST THE SLUMPING ALM CHAMPIONS
WELLINGTON PHOENIX 2-2 CENTRAL COAST MARINERS
MATCH REPORT: CUMMINGS AND HIS MOMENT OF BRILLIANCE DENIED BY ‘NIX IN THRILLING DRAW
MACARTHUR FC 2-0 ADELAIDE UNITED
MATCH REPORT & REACTION: DANIEL ARZANI AND THE ‘L’ WORD THAT SHOULD HAVE FANS EXCITED