Glory were denied a second away win of the season in dramatic circumstances on Friday night, coming from 2-0 down to lead Adelaide United 3-2, only for Panagiotis Ikianis to secure the Reds a share of the spoils with a 98th-minute goal.
View full match highlights HERE
View Alen Stajcic’s full post-match media conference HERE
It looked like being a long night for Alen Stajcic’s men when the hosts raced out to a 2-0 lead inside the opening 16 minutes courtesy of a Hiro Ibusuki’s header and Zac Clough’s penalty.
But Adam Taggart halved the arreas before the break with his 10th goal of the season, David Williams found the net yet again after coming off the bench and with eight minutes left, Josh Rawlins slammed home his first ever senior goal for the club.
When Oli Sail then saved a penalty from Stefan Mauk, a remarkable victory seemed on the cards and yet there was to be another twist in the tale as Kikianis managed to force the ball over the line from a stoppage-time corner to make it 3-3.
The tone for what proved to be a breathless encounter was set inside the opening ten minutes as Ryan Kitto’s cross was nodded home by Ibusuki to give Carl Veart’s men the lead.
Daniel Bennie almost supplied an instant response, hitting the outside of the post, but moments later Glory found themselves two down as Aleks Susnjar was deemed to have pulled Ibusuki down in the box and Clough rattled home the resulting spot-kick.
Sail was required to make several top-drawer saves to keep Glory in the contest, before Taggart pulled one back, converting at the far post after Giordano Colli’s corner had been flicked on by Darryl Lachman.
Ibusuki was duly denied twice by the impressive Sail ahead of the break and once the second half got underway, it did not take long for the chances to start flowing again.
Taggart twice went close, but Williams needed just the one opportunity to bag his third goal in the last four games, drilling a shot past James Delianov after the Adelaide ‘keeper had only managed to get a weak punch on a Colli corner.
With their tails up, Glory poured forward and after Bennie was denied by the woodwork for a second time, Rawlins gleefully rattled in goal number three.
Colli started the move with a huge tackle in midfield, Bennie and substitute Trent Ostler combined down the left to continue it and when the ball found its way across the box to Rawlins, the 19-year-old needed no second invitation to fire home.
That joy for the men in white turned to apparent despair in the space of a minute when Luke Bodnar handled in the box, but Sail came to the rescue by producing a superb stop to push away Mauk’s penalty.
Unfortunately for the New Zealand international ‘goalkeeper, there was nothing he could do about Adelaide’s late, late leveller, Ikianis just about nudging the ball over the line in the midst of a frantic goalmouth scramble.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023-24 Season Round 17
Adelaide United 3 (Ibusuki 9′, Clough (pen) 16′) Perth Glory 3 (Taggart 31′, Williams 63′. Rawlins 82′)
Half-time: 2-1
Coopers Stadium
Friday 9 February 2024
Referee: Ben Abraham
Adeliade United: 1.James DELIANOV (gk), 3.Ben WARLAND, 6.Stefan MAUK, 7.Ryan KITTO (c), 8.ISAÍAS, 9.Hiroshi IBUSUKI, 10.Zach CLOUGH (17.Luka JOVANOVIĆ 79′), 27.Josh CAVALLO (66.Nestory IRANKUNDA 60′), 43.Giuseppe BOVALINA, 51.Panagiotis KIKIANIS, 55.Ethan ALAGICH (26.Ben HALLORAN 61′)
Substitutes not used: 2.Harry VAN DER SAAG, 22.Ryan TUNNICLIFFE, 23.Luke DUZEL, 40.Ethan COX (gk)
Yellow Cards: Irankunda
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS (4.Luke BODNAR 71′), 14.Riley WARLAND (19.Trent OSTLER 71′), 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR, 16.Josh RAWLINS (3.Jacob MUIR 90′), 17.Jarrod CARLUCCIO (9.David WILLIAMS 61′), 20.Giordano COLLI, 22.Adam TAGGART (co-c), 23.Daniel BENNIE (31.Joel ANASMO 90′), 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU
Substitutes not used: 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 27.Jayden GORMAN
Yellow Cards: Susnjar, Colli
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
