Wanderers ruthless in St George City rout
Western Sydney Wanderers blew St George City away, with an emphatic first half guiding the young guns to a 6-1 smashing of their opponents at Wanderers Football Park on Sunday.
They played a flying first 15 minutes, with goals from Adam Bugarija, Marcus Younis, and Aydan Hammond putting them comfortably ahead.
Jordan Roberts tucked away a penalty in the 17th minute for St George as the away side looked to get back into the game.
However, Andrew Christiansen’s team showed no signs of letting up, with Ryley Hollingdale and Alex Badaloto grabbing goals before halftime.
In a quieter second half, Nathanael Blair got his name on the scoresheet to round out an outstanding afternoon for the Wanderers.
The side made the best possible start to the match by opening the scoring in the fourth minute.
A speedy break down the left saw the ball eventually drop to Bugarija in the middle of the box, who drove an accurate finish into the bottom left corner.
The hosts were proving problematic for St George on the counter and scored again four minutes later.
Blair laid the ball off in his own half to Hammond down the left, and the winger took up the space in front of him.
He played it into the right channel of the box, where an unmarked Younis rolled a composed effort past City goalkeeper Jack Kenny.
Western Sydney kept up the intensity and grabbed a third goal to round out an incredible opening for the home side.
Some persistent pressing presented Younis with a chance to pass the ball across the box to Hammond on the right and he lashed a strike into the roof of the net.
St George City sought to rectify their nightmare start in the 17th minute as Jason Romero was brought down in the box for a penalty.
Roberts took responsibility and powered it into the right side of the net, with Taiger Harper in the Wanderers’ net diving the other direction.
Despite this, Western Sydney notched a fourth 11 minutes later.
The ever-threatening Younis mazed his way down the right before sliding it towards the centre of the box for Hollingdale, and the midfielder picked out the bottom right corner.
After this, City tried to gain a degree of control in the game as they started to get into shooting positions more frequently.
Roberts almost scored his second goal in the 36th minute, but his curling effort from the left edge of the box cannoned back off the bar.
The Wanderers, though, remained ruthless and scored their fifth goal four minutes later.
Badolato dribbled into the box and arrowed his shot into the bottom left corner.
A couple of minutes later, Roberts spurned a great opportunity for the visitors.
A loose ball fell to him on the edge of the box where he was facing a vacant goal, but his shot bounced wide.
Western Sydney’s clinical first half saw them walk into the sheds with a four-goal lead and a seemingly insurmountable task for City in the second period.
St George squandered another big chance seven minutes after the break when Kosta Petratos received the ball on the right edge of the box but fired wide of the right post.
The side went close again in the 67th minute when Louis Khoury ran through the middle of the pitch and took aim from outside the area, with Harper equal to it.
St George substitute Maki Petratos had two shots over the next eight minutes that Harper parried away well.
Western Sydney proved the more clinical team again and added a sixth 77 minutes in.
Anthony Pantazapoulos lofted a ball into the left of the box for Blair, who powered a shot in at the near post – it was the big striker’s tenth goal of the year, and one that had him atop of the Golden Boot charts.
Regardless, City continued to create chances, and Presley Ortiz rattled the woodwork from a tight angle in the left of the box with eight regular minutes to play.
In stoppage time, Romero’s effort from the right edge of the box hit the crossbar, and moments later, the final whistle was blown.
Wanderers’ coach Christiansen said he was delighted with how his team started the game and the quality shown at both ends of the field.
“It didn’t take us too long to get into the game, and I thought we ran with that for almost the entirety of the game,” he said.
“The boys are confident and are disciplined and aggressive.
“We’re scoring a lot of goals which is really pleasing to see.
“The manner in which the boys are scoring goals, [they are] making the right decisions, and the team unity and fluidity is creating the goals.
“Defensively, we’re much more disciplined, showing really good desire to defend.”
Match Stats
Western Sydney Wanderers FC 6 (Adam Bugarija 4’, Marcus Younis 8’, Aydan Hammond 14’, Ryley Hollingdale 28’, Alex Badaloto 40’, Nathanael Blair 77’)
St George City FA 1 (Nathan Roberts 17’ penalty)
Sunday 14 April 2024
Wanderers Football Park, Rooty Hill
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Amirhossein Hosnani and Ethan Zvargulis
Fourth Official: Charbel Geha
Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1. Taiga Harper, 2. Nathan Barrie, 3. Anthony Pantazapoulos, 6. Dylan Scicluna (3. Doni Grdic 77’), 7. Marcus Younis (77. Phillip Gigliotti 48’), 9. Nathanael Blair, 10. Alexander Badolato, 11. Adam Bugarija, 12. Alex Bonetig (23. Marcus Fernandez 78’), 13. Aydan Hammond (99. Ryan Devine 69’), 25. Ryley Hollingdale (22. Jesse Cameron 79’)
Substitutes Not Used: 20. Lucas Sinnott
Yellow Cards: Dylan Scicluna 24’, Marcus Younis 33’, Anthony Pantazapoulos 51’
Red Cards: Nil
St George City FA: 1. Jack Kenny, 2. Cameron Fong, 3. Joshua Hong (30. Presley Ortiz 59’), 5. Fumoto Kamada, 7. Nathan Roberts (19. Jesse Photi 59’), 10. Jason Romero, 11. Kosta Petratos (9. Maki Petratos 59’), 14. Paolo Mitry (6. Tarik Ercan 59’), 25. Brodie Clarkson, 33. Louis Khoury, 88. Mohammed Khamis (38. Kai Kamikura 73’)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Joseph Knowles
Yellow Cards: Tarik Ercan 63’
Red Cards: Nil
Playing Ratings:
3 – Marcus Younis (WSW)
2 – Aydan Hammond (WSW)
1 – Ryley Hollingdale (WSW)
Report by Timothy Gibson, on Twitter @Timg123_
