Mark Rudan hailed Western Sydney Wanderers’ win over Melbourne Victory as a key step in reigniting their Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
Rudan has two wins from the opening four games of his tenure after second-half goals from Dimi Petratos and Tate Russell secured a 2-0 victory on Wednesday.
Victory, on the other hand, have lost all three games since their FFA Cup triumph and haven’t won a match since Boxing Day.
Rudan now has the Wanderers playing with discipline, structure and one win outside of the finals spot – a fate which seemed unthinkable when the club sacked Carl Robinson a little over a fortnight ago.
“This is probably our biggest result,” Rudan said. “The last two games it was mistakes that cost us against teams running first and second in the table.
“Against another quality outfit (on Wednesday) – people had made them favourites for a reason and they won a trophy a few weeks ago – I was really happy with our output and effort.
“The boys were chasing back and players who are more known for their technical ability – guys like Dimi Petratos and James Troisi – they put an absolute shift in.”
Ziggy Gordon and Phillip Cancar, who marked his starting debut by setting up Russell’s goal, were also impressive despite having hardly featured under Robinson.
Both were instrumental in shutting down Victory’s attack and were helped by the return of Daniel Margush in goal.
Spanish import Tomas Mejias had been the preferred No.1 at the club but Rudan said Margush had earned the chance to stake his claim for the role.
“When you play at this elite level you are always subject to your performance,” said Rudan.
“Daniel Margush has been training really well and I wasn’t overly happy with the last game (a 3-1 loss to Melbourne City) and how we conceded goals.
“It’s always a big decision when you change your goalkeeper. Daniel wasn’t really tested tonight but what he did do was give the back four a lot of confidence with his communication, positioning and game smarts.
“He’s earned his place for the next game and he deserves his chance.”
