Western United leapfrogged Melbourne City into second on the Isuzu UTE A-League table after securing a 1-0 win over the defending champions at AAMI Park.
Snapping a two-game losing run, Western held out against a blunt City attack before securing their fifth 1-0 win of the season through Steven Lustica’s 71st-minute strike on Saturday.
With the result, Western moved level on 15 points with high-flying Melbourne Victory at the A-League men summit.
Looking to start strongly, the nominal hosts tested City keeper Tom Glover with a fifth-minute Alessandro Diamanti volley.
And they should have been ahead two minutes later when Lachlan Wales sent in a volley at the back post that tested Glover but lacked the power to beat him.
Missing attackers Jamie Maclaren, Mat Leckie, Marco Tilio, and midfielder Connor Metcalfe to Socceroos duty, City monopolised possession but struggled to create a volume of clear chances on goal to go with it, ending the game outshot 15 to 10.
Their best chances of the game arrived late in the first half, Scott Jamieson forcing a smart save from Jamie Young with a long-range effort in the 40th minute and a glancing Rostyn Griffiths from a corner five minutes later hitting the crossbar.
Sparked to life by substitute Dylan Pierias’ 66th-minute introduction, Western won a penalty three minutes later when VAR adjudged Florin Berenguer to have unfairly used his arm to block a Leo Lacroix header from a corner.
Diamanti hit his resulting shot with power, but couldn’t beat Glover.
However, the resulting jeers from the City faithful served to put a bit between the teeth of the Western captain and moments later he turned provider when his blocked shot fell for Lustica to fire home his second goal in as many weeks.
In taking the points, United made it a happy 350th ALM game for Nikolai Topor-Stanley, the defender becoming just the second player to reach that milestone in what was a rare start.
