Sebastian Despotovski scored his maiden A-League goal as ten-man Glory held firm to secure a gutsy 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at a raucous HBF Park on Friday evening.
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Having dominated the first half-hour, the men in purple deservedly hit the front when Jaiden Kucharski’s cross-shot was nodded home by 20-year-old Despotovski while his father, club legend Bobby, looked on from the stands.
But the hosts then suffered a major setback when Trent Ostler picked up a second yellow card just before half-time, leaving them to play for the best part of an hour with ten men.
It looked like a big ask and yet Adam Griffiths’ side rose to the challenge in style, digging deep to keep Wanderers at bay and secure a third successive win which lifted the club into the top four on the competition table.
Clearly buoyed by their back-to-back wins on the road, Glory made the running right from the off, with Adam Taggart and Kucharski both going close before Despotovski eventually broke the deadlock.
Kucharski may have been attempting to shoot rather than cross, but either way he picked out Despotovski who guided a header past Lawrence Thomas.
Moments later, Ostler was cautioned for a foul on Aidan Simmons and that proved costly for the Glory man who swiftly upended the same opponent again and received his marching orders from referee Shane Skinner.
The action in what was a lively first half continued right into stoppage time as Matt Sutton produced a fingertip save to prevent Anthony Pantazopoulos from levelling for Wanderers with a towering header.
Josh Risdon was introduced from the bench at the start of the second and Glory successfully kept Wanderers at arm’s length during the opening exchanges.
Not until the 62nd minute did Alen Stajcic’s side manage to muster another effort on target in the form of a deflected Kosta Barbarouses header and Sutton responded with a smart save.
The in-form ‘keeper went one better nine minutes from time, somehow managing to parry a Bozhidar Kraev header at point-blank range and although the six minutes of stoppage-time grated on the nerves of the home support, Glory were not to be denied an heroic and memorable victory.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2025/26 Season Round 7
Perth Glory 1 (Despotovski 30′) Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Half-time: 1-0
HBF Park
Friday 5 December 2025
Referee: Shane Skinner
Attendance: 5590
Perth Glory: 29.Matt SUTTON (gk), 2.Charbel SHAMOON, 4.Scott WOOTTON (co-c), 9.Jaiden KUCHARSKI (19.Josh RISDON 46′), 18.Rhys BOZINOVSKI, 20.Trent OSTLER , 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 25.Sebastian DESPOTOVSKI (7.Nicholas PENNINGTON 63′), 27.Will FRENEY (5.Riley FOXE 90′), 34.Tom LAWRENCE, 45.Brian KALTAK
Substitutes not used: 40.Ryan WARNER (gk), 8.Callum TIMMINS, 16.Gabriel POPOVIC, 26.Khoa NGO
Yellow Cards: Ostler, Freney, Taggart
Red Cards: Ostler
Western Sydney Wanderers: 20. Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 2. Gabriel CLEUR, 4. Alexander BONETIG, 8. Steven UGARKOVIC (21. Aydan HAMMOND 59′), 9. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 22. Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 23. Bozhidar KRAEV, 25. Joshua BRILLANTE (5. Dylan SCICLUNA 46′) (6. Mohamed AL-TAAY 81′), 31. Aidan SIMMONS (19. Ruon TONGYIK 81′), 32. Angus THURGATE, 45. Alou KUOL (26.Brandon BORRELLO 68′)
Substitutes not used: 17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO, 30. Jordan HOLMES (gk)
Yellow Cards: Ugarkovic, Hammond
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
ALM Match Wrap: All guts, all Glory as Griffiths’ men secure battling win over Wanderers
