Western Sydney Wanderers 1-1 Perth Glory
by Ben Gilby (20/12/24)
Above: Megan Wynne (left) looks to hold off Western Sydney Wanderers’ Ella Buchanan earlier today. Photo: Perth Glory.
A goal from the penalty spot six minutes into second-half stoppage time from Kelli Brown earned Perth Glory a deserved point from their trip to Western Sydney Wanderers today.
The New South Wales side hit the front thanks to Amy Harrison’s free-kick with only five minutes of normal time remaining, but their hopes of winning successive matches were dealt a blow with the late leveller from the former Wellington Phoenix attacker.
Glory went into the game with former Wanderers youngster Ella Abdul-Massih coming into the starting line-up in place of Nat Tathem who went onto the bench.
Chances were few and far between in the first half. The first opportunity came 18 minutes in when Harrison’s free-kick from around 35 yards for the home side flew over the top.
Almost immediately afterwards, Wanderers came closer still as Tahlia Younis took the ball to the right-hand edge of the box and played a cross in that deflected up off Onyi Zogg and fell for Cushla Rue rather too quickly for her to get proper direction on her header which went wide of the back post.
Perth began to get an increasing foothold in the game, and from Megan Wynne’s long throw on the right, Gabby Hollar flicked a header back for Brown who directed her own header just wide of the far post.
It then took an excellent tackle from Ella Buchanan to deny Wynne after the Welsh international was brilliantly fed by Brown as Perth continued their improved offensive display.
Neither keeper was greatly troubled again until just after the hour mark. Tijan McKenna bit in to win possession in the middle of the park and held off Sienna Saveska to play a perfectly weighted ball forward for Brown who held off the close attentions of two defenders as she entered the area to hit a shot that Sham Khamis dived brilliantly to push away. It was one of those moments of skill from McKenna that showed why she deserves to hold a midfield position rather than being deployed in a solely defensive role.
Then, with 85 minutes played the drama began. Western Sydney were awarded a free-kick just outside the box after Naomi Chinnama fouled Amy Chessari on the right of centre. Harrison stepped up to lift the ball over the Perth wall before bouncing against the base of the left hand post and in.
Perth pushed forward for a late leveller. With 89 on the clock, Brown took up possession outside the box to the left and hit a pass that saw Gemma Ferris take a swing and a miss, allowing the ball to roll on for Hollar who was denied at close range by Khamis on the edge of the six-yard box.
Khamis denied the visitors once more early in stoppage time as a beautifully weighted pass into the feet of Miku Sunaga allowed the Japanese attacker to feed Brown inside her to hit a shot that the Wanderers keeper saved excellently.
With four minutes of stoppage time played, Sunaga charged forward again and collided powerfully with the outstretched arm of Khamis and fell to the ground. Despite the goalkeeper’s protestations, referee Rachael Mitchenson showed her a yellow card and then pointed to the spot.
Brown stepped up and hit the penalty high, but with more than sufficient power to ensure it ended up in the back of the net despite Khamis getting a hand to it on the way.
This was a game that the two sides will feel they had the chances to win. Sham Khamis was superb throughout making a series of magnificent stops. On the plus side, both Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory record a second week undefeated. They will be positive about taking this improved run of form into a strong challenge over the Christmas and New Year period.
Teams: WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS (4-2-3-1): Khamis, Matos, Harrison, Ferris, Buchanan, Chessari, Harada, Rue, Saveska, Younis, Harding. Substitutes: Bennett, Kapetanellis, Price, Segavcic, Trew.
Scorer: Harrison 85′.
PERTH GLORY (4-3-3): Dumont, Johnston, Chinnama, Zogg, Abdul-Massih, Wainwright, Cassidy, McKenna, Wynne, Brown, Hollar. Substitutes: Foletta, Roberts, Sunaga, Tathem, Templeman.
Scorer: Brown 90+6.
Referee: Rachael Mitchenson.
Attendance: 862.
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