Second-half goals from Jack Clisby and Tate Russell consigned Glory to a 2-0 defeat against Western Sydney Wanderers in Saturday’s Isuzu UTE A-League Round 4 clash at CommBank Stadium.
View full match highlights HERE.
View Alen Stajcic’s post-match media conference HERE.
The visitors went close to taking the lead during an evenly-fought first-half as David Williams struck the post and Stefan Colakovski saw his effort cleared off the line by Marcelo.
But two goals in the space of seven minutes shortly after the restart turned the game decisively in Wanderers’ favour, Clisby firing in from a tight angle against his former club, before Russell crashed in the second from close range.
Glory battled gamely to try and find a way back into the contest in the latter stages, but Lawrence Thomas produced a fine save to keep out Colakovski’s header and both Jayden Gorman and Daniel Bennie fired just over the bar.
The tone for what developed into a lively first half was set as early as the third minute when Bruce Kamau dragged a low shot narrowly wide of the far post.
Colakovski was next to go close for Alen Stajcic’s side, meeting a Johnny Koutroumbis cross with a low shot which was cleared off the line by home skipper, Marcelo.
Glory duly went even closer to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour mark, this time Williams pulling the trigger from outside the box and seeing his effort strike the foot of Thomas’ left-hand post.
Within sixty seconds, it was the Glory woodwork which was left shaking as Marcus Antonsson’s shot thumped against the bar and Wanderers went close again in first-half stoppage-time through Russell’s looping header.
Marko Rudan’s side continued where they left off at the start of the second half and were rewarded five minutes in when Josh Brillante picked out Clisby’s run into the box and the defender defied a narrow angle to crash a shot into the roof of the net.
1-0 soon became 2-0, this time Russell volleying home after a Clisby cross had only been half-cleared.
Despite facing a mountain to climb, any notion that Glory would go down quietly were soon dispelled as they poured forward and came agonisingly close to regaining a foothold in the game when Colakovski met Ostler’s cross with a firm header, only for Thomas to parry it away.
Continuing a lively cameo off the bench, Trent Ostler then combined with fellow-substitute Jayden Gorman whose eventual strike was just off the mark.
And Glory sustained their pressure right into stoppage-time when Bennie found a pocket of space in the box, but he was unable to keep his shot down.
Match Details
Isuzu UTE A-League 2023/24 Season Round 4
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Clisby 50′, Russell 57′) Perth Glory 0
Half-time: 0-0
CommBank Stadium
Saturday 11 November 2023
Referee: Daniel Elder
Western Sydney Wanderers: 20.Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 6.Marcelo (C), 9.Marcus ANTONSSON ( 35.Zachary SAPSFORD 82′), 13.Tate RUSSELL (29.Dylan SCICLUNA 71′), 14.Nicolas MILANOVIC, 16.Tom BEADLING, 17.Lachlan BROOK (10.Milos NINKVOIC 82′), 19.Jack CLISBY (36.Oscar PRIESTMAN 89′), 21.Jorrit HENDRIX, 25.Josh BRILLANTE, 26.Brandon BORRELLO
Substitutes not used: 4.Doni GRDIC, 7.Dylan PIERIAS, 40.Jack GIBSON (GK)
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
Perth Glory: 13.Cameron COOK (gk), 2.Johnny KOUTROUMBIS (19.Trent OSTLER 79′), 3.Jacob MUIR, 5.Mark BEEVERS (C), 9.David WILLIAMS (27.Jayden GORMAN 59′), 10.Salim KHELIFI (11.Adam ZIMARINO 59′), 15.Aleksandar SUSNJAR (14.Riley WARLAND 79′), 20.Giordano COLLI, 23.Daniel BENNIE, 29.Darryl LACHMAN, 77.Bruce KAMAU (7.Stefan COLAKOVSKI 13′)
Substitutes not used: 1.Oli SAIL (gk), 6.Aaron MCENEFF
Yellow Cards: None
Red Cards: None
#ONEGlory
