Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic feels his Wanderers side threw away two valuable points in Saturday night’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle.
Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic feels his Wanderers side threw away two valuable points in Saturday night’s dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle.
Leading 2-1, the Wanderers allowed Jets striker Adam Taggart to nail the second of his two goals for the night in the last minute of regular time.
“It was disappointing to concede so late,” Popovic said.
“The lead was deserved away from home.
“For us, it was a soft goal to concede, that’s how I view it. We had a few chances to clear the ball, we didn’t clear it, they kept the ball in there, it bounced around a bit and it fell to a player on the right spot and they scored.
“It was a tough game. It was two teams working hard. We started very well in the game but then they scored a wonderful goal. It gave them some confidence and they lifted. It was good to get a goal back right on half-time, so two very nice goals in the first half.”
Popovic believed the Wanderers should have taken maximum points as they aim to maintain the pressure on league Brisbane, who remains four points clear of second-placed Western Sydney ahead of their clash with the Mariners on Sunday.
“You could see in the second half that there was only one team that was going to get the win, they sat back and tried to get us on the break,” said Popovic.
“They worked hard and it was really only in the last five minutes when we were under pressure, but you expect that, but we weren’t good enough to hold out.”