Wanderers and APIA draw in thrilling finish
The Western Sydney Wanderers and APIA Leichhardt both escaped with a point each in a dramatic finish at Wanderers Football Park as the match ended 2-2 on a drizzly evening in Sydney’s West.
Heavily affected by the wet weather that hit Sydney, both teams failed to get going in the first half.
It showed with both clubs being unable to control the football, and hold possession.
Beginning the game, Franco Fairnella looked lively in attack for APIA but the youngster was given no real opportunities to break the deadlock by the Wanderers’ defenders.
A side that has given away 20 goals this season (the most by any club in the NPL NSW Men’s competition), Andrew Christensen’s troops looked different at the back showing signs of improvement and resilience.
Looking like they would remain deadlocked at the break, Alessandro Lopane provided a wonder strike to open the scoring in the 37th minute.
Returning from Young Socceroos duty, Lopane executed his shot to perfection, striking the ball into the top right corner.
It was to be the game’s only major talking point as the hosts took a 1-0 lead into the interval.
Straight after the break, APIA immediately lifted the intensity. Applying continual pressure to the home team, they were granted great goal-scoring chances one after another.
However, it was the Wanderers who would have the first real chance of the half when Marcus Younis hit the post after a great passage of play between him and George Antonis and Zachary Sapsford.
This moment would end up haunting the Wanderers.
Minutes later in the 58th minute, Diego Celis equalised for the visitors with his second goal of the season, after a lovely assist from Sean Symons.
APIA would continue pressuring the home team and it ended up with them taking the lead in the 76th minute.
This time it was 18-year-old Franco Farinella who slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner granting them the advantage.
With the score sitting at 2-1 in favour of APIA in the 88th minute, the game seemed all but over.
However, the young hungry Wanderers were eager to stay in the game.
In the last two minutes before added time, the Wanderers had two golden opportunities to level the score.
The first was a Teng Kuol shot which fell wide to the right while the second chance was a Jarrod Carluccio snapshot that went inches wide to the left.
It seemed destined that the Wanderers would level the score following those two massive opportunities.
The Wanderers’ persistence finally paid off as Ariath Piol found a roaming Jarrod Carluccio in the 18-yard box.
Making up for his previous missed opportunity, a minute earlier, Carluccio slotted the ball into the back of the next in the 90th minute.
It was a majestic goal by Carluccio who showed his skill cutting the ball back as APIA defender Paul Galimi came to clear the ball but the Wanderer sent him to the dressing sheds.
Just when everyone thought the game had come to a conclusion, both clubs would have one more opportunity in injury time.
Although it was not to be, with the two goalkeepers delivering crucial saves.
Jack Warshawsky saved an attempt by Jack Stewart, which was followed by a miraculous save by APIA’s goalkeeper Ivan Necevski that saw the ball hit the crossbar.
Pleased with how his side came back into the game in the final five minutes as well as picking up from their heavy 5-1 defeat against Rockdale Ilinden last weekend, Andrew Christensen gave special mention to the Wanderers’ defenders post-match.
“I thought Alex Bonetig was fantastic, I thought Liam Bonetig, his younger brother (in his) second starting game did fantastically well,” Wanderers coach Andrew Christensen said.
“I thought Jack Warshawsky in goal was phenomenal with some top saves and some good communication and passing,” he continued.
“(I was) very happy overall. Daniel Wilmering (on the) left took charge of the team today and took some leadership and I felt that from him. Aiden Simmons was fantastic on the right too. I thought the whole 90 minutes they were excellent.”
Whilst APIA Leichhardt FC coach Franco Parisi was proud of how his team came out in the second half but it was noted that it was the second successive week the former NPL NSW Men’s league leaders dropped points against A-League academy opposition.
“Tonight we saw some very good football played.
“We did feel that the second half was very much our game, and there was enough opportunities to score four or five goals. We didn’t and they found a moment to get an equaliser towards the death and that was the difference of the game.
“There’s some consistency of the goals we’ve conceded in the last two weeks, so we were able to identify that but there’s also some confidence around what we’re doing with the ball and working towards getting some more goals,” he continued.
Match Stats
Western Sydney Wanderers FC 2 (Lopane 37’ Carluccio 90’)
APIA Leichhardt FC 2 (Celis 58’ Farinella 76’)
Saturday 25 March, 2023
Wanderers Football Park, Rooty Hill
Referee: Craig Fisher
Assistant Referees: Scott Edeling and Matt Staples
Fourth Official: Jake Rose
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Jack Warshawsky (GK) 3. Liam Bonetig 4. Alex Bonetig 5. Aidan Simmons 7. Jarrod Carluccio 8. Alessandro Lopane 10. Alexander Badolato (77. Ariath Piol 46’) 11. Zachary Sapsford (9. Nathanael Blair 62’) 13. Marcus Younis (24. Teng Kuol 62’) 14. George Antonis (6. Frans Deli 81’) 19. Daniel Wilmering (C)
Substitutes Not Used: 22. Jesse Cameron 50 Lawrence Caruso (GK)
Yellow Cards: L. Bonetig 43’ Carluccio 90+1’ Lopane 90+3’
Red Cards: Nil
APIA Leichhardt FC: 1. Ivan Necevski (GK) 4. Joshua Symons 6. Anthony Sparacino (14. Jack Armson 72’) 7. Jack Stewart 8. Diego Celis 15. Themba Muata-Marlow (3. Paul Galimi 87’) 16. Sean Symons (17. Rory Jordan 74’) 18. Adrian Ucchino 19. Fabian Monge 38. Yianni Nicolaou (5. Joshua Lazzaro 87’) 98. Franco Farinella (25. Aedon Kyra 87’)
Substitutes Not Used: 12. Anthony Bouzanis (GK)
Yellow Cards: Celis 19’ Symons 32’ Muata-Marlow 42’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3- Alex Bonetig (WSW)
2- Jack Warshawsky (WSW)
1- Franco Farinella (APIA)
-By Ethan Lee Clark
