Late lapses cost City
The champions Melbourne City had swept to a 2-0 lead with just 12 minutes remaining away to Adelaide on Saturday night and Patrick Kisnorbo’s side looked set for another three points thanks to anAndrew Nabbout stunner and a first-halfJamie Maclaren goal.
But things got jittery after Stefan Mauk (a former City player) pulled a goal back for the Reds,and then when City keeper Tom Glover was caught in no-man’s land in the last minute,Ben Halloran needed no invitation to cleverly chip over him and into an unguarded net in the 2-2 draw.
It was uncharacteristic for City,who have been a well-oiled machine. But it certainly brought the house down at Coopers Stadium.
So near,yet so VAR
It seems controversies from the VAR system will never go away,and on Friday night,when Western United registered their first goal and win of the season,the electronic system was once again at the centre of an angry dispute between Perth Glory and the match officials.
Still photographs seemed to suggest that the ball might well have been out of play beforeConnor Pain crossed forDylan Wenzel-Halls to give Western the only goal of the game. Cue apoplexy,frustration and despair from Glory manager Richard Garcia in the post-match press conference.
Four-hour flight too taxing for ex-Liverpool striker
Glory’s woes continue unabated. Their travel schedule is a nightmare given they have been fixtured to play on the road until mid-January,but the tyranny of Australian distance seems to have come as a shock to their heavily hyped signingDaniel Sturridge.
The ex-Liverpool,Chelsea,Manchester City and England striker sat in the AAMI Park stands on Friday night and watched his teammates struggle,having declared himself unavailable to start because the rigours of the four-hour flight from Perth to Melbourne had left him feeling uncomfortable and unable to contribute.
“He’s not used to a four-hour flight to a game. He’s just not used to it,” Perth owner Tony Sage told SEN radio.
Social media reacted predictably:about the most generous comment was to question whether the 32-year-old had actually looked at a map of Australia before deciding to sign for Glory.
Goal of the week
He might not be the most prolific of marksmen,but when Andrew Nabbout does hit the target he has a habit of scoring spectacular goals. His blockbuster in Adelaide will certainly add to his highlights reel,a thumping drive on the run off the outside of his boot that curled,rose and bent into the top corner.
Quote of the week
“I’m without speech ... It’s an ongoing battle ... We either fix the system or we don’t use it at all. It’s happening in games over and over again. Do we have the resources to use it? Are we using it properly? Let’s not pretend there’s a system in place because there’s not.″
Perth Glory coach Richard Garcia on VAR.