The Western Sydney Wanderers lifted themselves off the bottom of the Isuzu UTE A-League table with a nervy 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
Former Victory man Kosta Barbarouses scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 29th minute after Daniel Elder adjudged that Clarismario Santos had blocked Brandon Borrello’s close range shot with his hand.
Barbarouses coolly rolled the penalty past Victory’s back up keeper Jack Warshawsky, making his A-League debut due to a concussion suffered by Jack Duncan.
The Victory piled on the pressure after the goal, with Juan Mata showing off his typically classy delivery and Santos and NIshan Velupillay proving dangerous.
The Wanderers had the next best chance of the game however, when Bozhidar Kraev skipped free of the Victory defence but couldn’t quite get his body shape right due to have the shot which ended up well saved by Warshawsky.
Victory had the better of the possession over the course of the match – 66% to 34% – but could only convert their 13 shots in the game to two that were on target, and none that overly concerned Wanderers custodian Lawrence Thomas.
Arguably Victory’s two cleanest looks on goal went to Nikos Vergos in injury time, with a chest down and volley and a flying header both flashing wide.
Josh Brillante – one of three Victory alumni in the Wanderers side along with Barbarouses and Thomas – was influential in the middle of the park, while the back four of Jarrod Carluccio, Anthony Pantazopoulos, Ruon Tongyik and Alex Gersbach stood strong in the face of waves of Victory attacks.
The match had been billed as the Juan Mata derby, and while the Spaniard was typically classy he didn’t quite have the impact he would have liked.
READ MORE: ‘It was Juan Mata’s thinking’ – Victory goal that underlines Mata’s genius
The World Cup winner did have a great chance for the Melbourne side when his back post volley was headed off the line by Pantazopoulos.
The Wanderers – and head coach Alen Stajcic – will feel vindicated by the win that will release some of the pressure that had built at the club as they navigated a period that saw them go winless in five matches.
They will look to build on that form next week when they take on the Newcastle Jets at Commbank Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile Melbourne Victory – for whome the loss ended a run of four straight wins – will have to travel to Adelaide United for the Original Rivalry without their captain Jason Davidson, who recorded his fifth yellow card.
ALEX TOBIN MEDAL VOTES:
3. Josh Brillante
2. Jarrod Carluccio
1. Kosta Barbarouses
