Central Coast Mariners fell prey to a defeat by the closest of margins through a late lone goal from Nicolai Muller, as a result of which Western Sydney Wanderers landed up at the top of the A-League.
The visitors came into this game having taken seven points out of a possible nine against their opponents last season, while Alen Stajcic’s men were looking to build on an impressive start to their campaign.
The evening began brightly with a good pitch and solid conditions for football in Gosford, as young striker Alou Kuol received a pass in the area. But the finish was not good enough as it was aimed straight at goalkeeper Daniel Margush.
Ten minutes into the game and at the other end of the pitch, a set-play from the left saw Graham Dorrans send the ball curving towards forward Simon Cox for an unmarked header. The former Nottingham Forest hitman could have and should have, but crucially did not make the most of the situation.
It was not too long before the Mariners had a great chance of their own, as left-back Jack Clisby had made his way down the flank and sent in a high cross into the box. Matthew Simon used his height to head the ball towards goal, which produced an excellent save from shot-stopper Margush to palm the ball away. The former Sydney FC front man may have felt that a tad bit more power could have done the trick on that occasion.
Tempers started to get frayed when Simon put in a crunching challenge from behind on the Parramatta outfit’s midfielder Keanu Baccus in the 19th minute. It was compounded in the 32nd minute when the physical hitman clashed with defender Ziggy Gordon in the box, which ended up with the 34-year-old launch a tirade at the Scot.
That was not all that Gordon got, however, as he was subject to a significant amount of stick from the home fans throughout the game, for having left them last November despite having signed a contract extension just a month before.
Meanwhile, Simon finally went into the book after 36 minutes, after a hastily raised arm caught young Baccus in the face.
The visitors grew into the game as they have in every game this season, and took the initiative in the second-half. Ten minutes into the second period, a superlative presence of mind saw Cox chest down the ball at the edge of the box to allow James Troisi to pounce. The former Melbourne Victory midfielder took one touch and sent in a low shot using his right foot – his weaker foot – which produced a good save from goalkeeper Mark Birighitti.
Over at the other end, Simon had another chance but the finish was half-hearted, lacked power and direction, and never really troubled Margush. But the ‘keeper was troubled on the hour mark, as Daniel De Silva combined beautifully with Josh Nisbet that saw the latter mishit the ball. It took a deflection off Simon and landed back at his feet, and the follow up shot left everyone ball watching as the crossbar came to rescue the visitors. The ball eventually fell to Simon, who found Clisby at the edge of the box. But the ex-Red and Black defender could not keep his shot down.
Carl Robinson’s strategy of slowly building from the back with a possession heavy makeup paid off as the Mariners appeared to have grown tired after pression for long periods of the game. This saw Clisby clear a ball poorly, which substitute Kwame Yeboah latched onto. But the shot took a deflection and landed into the path of German forward Nicolai Muller who made no mistake making it 1-0 in the 83rd minute.
As the man in charge brought the game to a halt, it was the Wanderers who displaced the men from Gosford to take the pole position in the A-League.
The Wanderers take on Newcastle Jets at the Western Sydney Stadium on Friday, while Central Coast Mariners travel to take on Sydney FC at the Jubilee Stadium on the same day.
