Western United’s hopes of a maiden A-League Men premiership remain firmly alive after they beat Macarthur FC 2-0 to close within two points of leaders Melbourne City.
Connor Pain’s wonderful volley broke the deadlock in Launceston in the 57th minute, striking a blow to the Bulls’ finals hopes.
Then, with Bulls goalkeeper Filip Kurto sent up for a late corner, United broke on the counter for Aleksandar Prijovic to double their lead.
United goalkeeper Jamie Young consistently proved a thorn in Macarthur’s side while the Bulls’ task was made more difficult by Adrian Mariappa’s 69th-minute send-off.
REACTION: ‘We’re in a good spot’: Superb Young performance accelerates Western’s title push
John Aloisi’s United sit second while Macarthur remain sixth, caught amid a jostle of teams, with just four points separating fourth-placed Adelaide and eighth-placed Central Coast.
The Bulls should have taken the lead in the seventh minute when Ulises Davila squared the ball for James Meredith, but the defender failed to put his shot on target.
Young and Kurto were both excellent throughout and in the 27th minute, the United goalkeeper pulled off an incredible one-handed save to deny Mariappa’s header.
Macarthur continued to pepper United’s goal without reward.
In the 44th minute, Craig Noone lifted a lovely ball to the back post but Charles M’Mombwa couldn’t direct his header on target
United took the lead in spectacular fashion 12 minutes after the break.
Tomoki Imai picked out Pain with a searching cross and the winger smashed home a left-footed volley.
Young denied Lachie Rose in the 62nd minute and seven minutes later, Mariappa picked up his second yellow card.
Rose looked certain to equalise on the counter in the 74th but was denied by Young’s extraordinary, acrobatic save.
Kurto made a double save in the 77th minute, then denied Prijovic again in the 90th as the Bulls eyed a late reprieve.
But when the goalkeeper went up for the last-ditch corner, the ball spilled out to Neil Kilkenny, who teed up Prijovic to ice the game.
RE-LIVE: WESTERN UNITED 2-0 MACARTHUR FC, AS IT HAPPENED
90+4′: GOAL! Prijović settles it (2-0)
Macarthur gambled with three late corners, sending Kurto up in an attempt to find an equaliser. But Western repelled the danger at the third time of asking, with Neil Kilkenny sending Prijović into Western’s attacking area to finish into an unguarded net.
85′: CHANCE! Prijović off the bar (1-0)
The woodwork was all that stood between Prijović and a top-class finish, with his left-footed curler looping over Kurto from distance and brushing the crossbar on its way out of play.
Kurto was adamant his side should have received a goal kick, but referee King saw a touch from the Macarthur keeper before the ball struck the bar, and a Western corner ensued.
81′: CHANCE! Pain fires wide (1-0)
That was almost the sealer for Western, with Pain collecting the ball from Aleksandar Prijović and driving into the box to shoot.
His attempt came under pressure from a slight angle, only just missing the bottom-right corner.
77′: CHANCES! Pain, Luštica denied (1-0)
Bulls keeper Kurto is keeping his side in the contest. Two quick-fire stops to deny both Pain and Luštica were the latest in a series of Kurto saves to give 10-man Macarthur hope of snatching a point.
69′: RED CARD! Mariappa receives his marching orders (1-0)
The Bulls are down to 10 after Mariappa’s dismissal for his second yellow card of the night.
The Macarthur central defender was dismissed by referee Alex King after being dispossessed by Steven Luštica, proceeding to pull the Western midfielder to the ground to prevent the fast break.
57′: GOAL! Pain breaks the deadlock with brilliant volley (1-0)
Once again it was Imai to Pain causing the danger for Western – only this time, the latter was able to put a classy finish on the former’s cross to make it 1-0 in Launceston.
Imai’s ball off the right wing found Pain in the box, who let the ball drop before dispatching a first-time finish off his left foot to find the back of the net.
49′: Manic moments in Western attack (0-0)
Western’s two best chances of the game came within seconds of each other early in the second half.
First it was Rene Khrin getting in on goal, opting not to pass the ball across the box to Lachie Wales streaming in for a simple tap in, with Kurto getting off his line to smother the ball at the feet of the Slovenian international.
Moments later, Tomoki Imai swung the ball off the right wing into the box to find Pain who fired a header on goal from close range – his effort was directed straight at Kurto who stood tall to palm the ball out for a corner.
46′: SECOND HALF (0-0)
This game is there to win should any of these two sides manage to improve their attacking output in the second stanza.
HALF-TIME: WESTERN 0-0 MACARTHUR
The Bulls enjoyed the best of the first-half chances, but Western’s defence remained typically resolute as the opening 45 minutes of play ticked by without a goal.
44′: CHANCE! M’Mombwa at the back post (0-0)
An opportunity for Macarthur to take the lead presented late in the first half, with Charles M’Mombwa arriving at the back post to meed a cross whipped in off the right flank.
M’Mombwa made purchase with the header but couldn’t direct his attempt back toward goal, with the ball missing the target.
26′: SAVE! Young to the rescue for Western (0-0)
“That was a world-class save from Jamie Young!” Exclaimed Paramount+ commentator Ben Homer as the Western gloveman leapt backwards to prod Adrian Mariappa’s header on goal from Craig Noone’s free-kick over the bar.
18′: CHANCE! Bulls back in numbers to block Pain strike (0-0)
Once again it was Pain causing trouble down the left, carving out space in the box and for a moment looking likely to strike on goal.
But three Macarthur defenders were quick to arrive on the scene, getting in front of Pain to ensure his shot on goal couldn’t get close to Kurto on the line.
13′: CHANCE! Pain puts Kurto to work (13′)
The first Western chance of the evening fell to Connor Pain, whose left-footed strike called Bulls keeper Filip Kurto into a low save to his left.
7′: CHANCE! Meredith spurns golden opportunity (0-0)
Leo Lacroix was caught napping on the ball in his defensive penalty area by Bulls captain Ulises Dávila, and the Mexican pounced on possession before teeing up James Meredith to convert into an open net.
However, Meredith’s finish was not up to the standard of the approach play from Dávila, with his attempt fading wide of the mark.
1′: KICK-OFF (0-0)
We’re underway in Launceston with Macarthur kicking off proceedings.
