Macarthur FC and Western Sydney Wanderers played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Campbelltown Stadium on Saturday night as neither side was able to clinch the winner, leaving the Bulls on the lookout for their first victory at home in the A-League.
Goals from defenders Aleksandar Jovanovic and Aleksandar Susnjar from set-plays were cancelled out by an individual moment of brilliance from visiting skipper Graham Dorrans and some creative play from young Keanu Baccus that resulted in Simon Cox getting on the score sheet.
The game began on a positive note with both sides looking to take an early lead, with the hosts’ right-back Ivan Franjic let loose a curling left-footed shot from over 20 yards out after five minutes had gone. But the effort whizzed over the bar and the deadlock remained unbroken on that occasion.
A few minutes later, the Wanderers showed why they have not conceded a single goal in open play this season, as some excellent last ditch defending from Ziggy Gordon kept a low driven cross at bay with forward Matt Derbyshire unable to capitalise.
Yet despite having not conceded in open play, the visitors have been particularly suceptible to conceding via set-plays and the Bulls capitalised on it after 17 minutes to make it 1-0. A corner-kick taken by midfielder Benat Etxebarria found towering centre-half Jovanovic being marked by both Gordon and Cox. But the journeyman – who has played for 13 different clubs so far – managed to shake off his markers to send a cleverly flicked header towards the far post. Goalkeeper Daniel Margush made an acrobatic effort to get the ball in time, but had no real chance as the Bulls drew first blood.
After 30 minutes had gone by, the visitors were slowly getting better both on and off the ball and an attacking move saw Cox tap the ball into the path of midfielder James Troisi, but the former Melbourne Victory man’s touch was a bit heavy and the end result did not eventuate to anything of consequence.
With only five minutes to go in the first period of play, Wanderers youngster Tate Russell made his way into the box from the right, cut slightly inwards to make some space, and surprised everyone except goalkeeper Adam Federici as he unleashed an excelled curling left-footed shot that produced a save at full stretch from the shot-stopper.
During stoppage time in the first-half, the Bulls forward Derbyshire found all kinds of space on goal and managed to put the ball into the back of the net. Unfortunately for the Englishman, the linesman had his flag raised for offside. While the 34-year-old protested the decision, a grainy VAR appeared to indicate that the linesman made the right decision on that occasion.
Fifty one minutes had passed when a moment of magic by midfielder Dorrans put the Wanderers back on level terms. The Scot picked up the ball as Etxebarria slipped during a an extinguished attack from the Bulls, thwarted and got past a sliding tackle from defender Franjic. Macarthur shot-stopper Federici – who often plays the role of a sweeper – was miles off his line as he was outside the 18-yard-box, and the former West Bromwich Albion man lobbed the ball from 40 yards out hit the back of the net in style.
As the hour mark was slowly approaching, Ante Milicic’s men took the lead for a second time in the encounter to make it 2-1. Yet again the Wanderers showed weakness when it came to set-plays, as a corner-kick saw centre-half Susnjar rise above his marker to send a powerdful header that clattered into the crossbar before bouncing past the goal line to give the home side the advantage again.
Sixty seven minutes had passed when one of the most incredible situations arose through which players, fans and experts are likely to be left scratching their heads as to how the Wanderers did not get a goal. It was not for a lack of effort, however, as an unlikely train of consequences caused the scoreline to remain unchanged. The play initially came to life when veteran full-back Daniel Georgievski superbly released Troisi on the left flank. The attacking midfielder played a long and low cross through to the middle that saw quick-footed Bruce Kamau have a go on goal with his first touch, but ‘keeper Federici made a reaction save.
As the ball bounced off the shot-stopper and appeared to be going towards goal, Kamau rushed forward to do the damage while Federici and defender James Meredith looked to stop the effort. All three players missed the ball in the heat of the moment, but the ‘keeper recovered well enough to palm the ball away from the goalmouth. Cox and Georgievski rushed in and the former took a shot that hit the latter’s back. By that point, young Russell was in the six-yard-box as well and took the rebound shot, which somehow clattered into the crossbar and stayed out.
After 70 minutes had passed, the Wanderers were rewarded for their attacking play as a moment of creative brilliance from young Baccus resulted in a goal that took the scoreline to 2-2. A corner-kick taken by Troisi in front of a raucous RBB went towards the near post and the 22-year-old defensive midfielder showed superb presence of mind to back hammer the ball towards goal. While the intention may have been to score, the effort was just right for Cox the head the ball home from the middle of the six-yard-box.
The game on a knife edge following the equaliser, with the visiting side having had 10 shots in six minutes. One of them could have even given them the lead as Cox made a brilliant run in and looked like he would score, only for the shot to go agonisingly wide of the target.
With less than 10 minutes to go, a somewhat hilariously confusing attack caused the Wanderers to stop themselves through a bit of friendly fire. Striker Kwame Yeboah – who had come on for Cox a little earlier – was rushing forward when he awkwardly collided with midfielder Jordan O’Doherty in what would have otherwise been a dangerous situation for the Bulls.
As time ticked away, the Bulls were unable to grab the game by the horns and ended up continuing to look for their first A-League win in Campbelltown.
Macarthur travel to Brisbane to take on the Roar on Tuesday, while Western Sydney Wanderers will play host to a struggling Melbourne Victory side the following night.
