Wanderers make it two in a row in Asia

Labinot Haliti's early goal was the difference as the Wanderers won again in Asia. Source: WILLIAM WEST / AFP

SO much for not taking Asia seriously. The Wanderers sit in second place in their Champions League group after a second consecutive win, defeating Kawasaki Frontale 1-0 last night at Parramatta Stadium.

Labinot Haliti scored after just three minutes, and for the next 87 Western Sydney threw heart and muscle in the way of their J-League visitors. By the end the pitch seemed almost as saturated as after Saturday's storms, but this time from sweat alone.

Tony Popovic's tactics seemed to involve squeezing Kawasaki to death, especially having gone in front so early. Continually the Wanderers coach urged his men to compact their shape, presenting a mass that the visitors found impenetrable.

"It's what you expect in the Asian Champions League — a hard game against a difficult opponent," said Popovic. "We rode our luck towards the end but look at the side we had — Anthony Golec hasn't played all year, Daniel Mullen since November 1, Tomi Juric has been out for weeks.

"It was a fantastic achievement and a fantastic result."

The Wanderers had to withstand constant pressure from Kawasaki. Source: AFP

It was an unashamed triumph of attrition, and hugely effective in its way. Only once in the first half was their serious alarm for the Western Sydney defence, when Jun Kanabuko picked up a loose ball and let fly with a shot that Ante Covic could only parry. Following up, Yu Kobayashi guided the loose ball wide.

As the Wanderers had already shown, key moments like that had to be seized. The game was only in its third minute when Kwabena Appiah turned his man in midfield and drove towards the Kawasaki box, before angling a perceptive ball into the path of Tomi Juric. Shaping to shoot, the striker almost lost control before guiding the ball to the far post where Haliti lurked and scored with ease.

After such an encouraging start it was frustrating to see Western Sydney unable to control the game, undermined by careless use of possession. Recent excellent results for the A-League sides in the ACL have had that common and troubling caveat where ownership of the ball is discarded far too cheaply.

Tomi Juric was an impressive attacking presence for Western Sydney. Source: Getty Images

Kawasaki had engineered a series of chances after the break — two to Kentaro Moriya, one stabbed wide in the box and the other a long range shot saved by Covic, while Kobayashi miscued right in front of goal.

The pressure from the visitors was beginning to tell, with Western Sydney's defence dropping ever deeper and the tension obvious. Both Anthony Golec and Mooy gave away corners with miskicks, Kobayashi had an air swing at the near post, then Yusuke Tanaka curled a shot a fraction wide of Covic's goal.

Further back retreated the lines of red and black, almost into their own goal. Yoshito Okubo waltzed his way through but somehow scuffed his shot wide, then in the dying seconds lifted a shot just too high.

But still not as high as the Wanderers aspirations in Asia now.

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