Oriol Riera appears to have found his shooting boots again as Western Sydney Wanderers drew 2-2 with Adelaide United on a scorching Wednesday night in the Hyundai A-League.
The Spaniard registered four shots on target tonight, the equal-most in his Wanderers career. The last time he registered such a stat was in Round 20 of the 2017/18 Season against Newcastle Jets.
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Riera got things rolling in first-half injury-time, following up his missed penalty to give the visitors the lead.
Nathan Konstandopoulos brought down Tarek Elrich in the box, presenting Riera with the penalty. But a second-half Nikola Mileusnic brace — in the space of seven minutes, no less! — gave Adelaide the lead.
Bruce Kamau’s strike in the 61st minute, one minute after Jordan Elsey’s second yellow card, meant both sides would share the spoils in a result that helps neither side.
https://players.brightcove.net/5472387882001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5983547154001
The 2018/19 Season has been a checkered one for Riera who, by his own high standards, hasn’t been pushing the benchmark he set last campaign.
In the 2017/18 Season, Riera notched 15 goals and one assist in 25 games during a tumultuous time for the Red and Black. This time around, with some reinforcements brought in by Markus Babbel, Riera has five goals in nine games.
At this rate, the 32-year-old won’t hit the same heights as his debut campaign, but don’t let the numbers tell the whole narrative.
GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! RIERA!!!#WSW #ADLvWSW
— WS Wanderers FC (@wswanderersfc) December 26, 2018
Riera has let fly 36 shots on goal this year, with 20 of those forcing a save from opposition keepers. With just over 55% of his shots being on target, a reduction in profligacy could see Riera’s conversion rate sky-rocket.
With all that in mind, it seems only a matter of time before Riera gets back to his lethal best and wreaks havoc on opposition defenders.
