Embattled Perth Glory have claimed their first away win in the A-League Men in nearly 15 months, downing a lacklustre Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1.
Goals from Stefan Colakovski and David Williams at CommBank Stadium on Saturday helped the Glory claim a boilover win against the highly fancied Wanderers.
Perth remain in 11th spot on the table despite their first victory on the road since a 2-1 defeat of the Central Coast Mariners in October 2022.
The drought-breaking result follows a week of turmoil for Alen Stajcic’s men, who have been forced to offload Oliver Bozanic and Salim Khelifi to balance the books in the past seven days.
"When you're losing you're still in that rut ... to get over that hump is the most difficult part," Stajcic said.
"To get that reward for our effort tonight with such amazing courage throughout the whole group (was pleasing).
"Dealing with a little bit of adversity ... to be able to come through the other end and put on that kind of display for the fans back home is what everyone should be proud of."
Glory remain in receivership and under the direction of the competition's administrative body, the Australian Professional Leagues.
Despite their off-field dramas, Perth looked the more menacing side in the first half, relying on the counter-attack to threaten as Western Sydney dominated territory and possession.
Perth striker Adam Taggart flashed a header wide and then forced Daniel Margush into a good save in an early warning sign that the Wanderers failed to heed.
On 34 minutes, Bruce Kamau zipped a ball through the middle of the Wanderers' defence that Taggart latched on to before sending a bending cross in-field to Colakovski.
The young forward hammered the ball past Margush and into the back of the net to give Perth a 1-0 lead.
The Wanderers struggled to break Glory down and had to rely on captain Marcelo to block a Taggart shot on the goal-line to prevent them going in at half-time two goals down.
The home side still lacked spark after the break, but it wasn’t until the 65th minute that Wanderers boss Marko Rudan turned to his bench and sent Milos Ninkovic and Valentino Yuel into the fray.
Ninkovic was unable to weave his magic against a retreating Perth defence, and Stajcic’s men eventually put the game to bed.
Breaking down field with three minutes left on the clock, Williams buried a well-placed shot beyond Margush’s reach to seal victory.
The Wanderers grabbed a late consolation six minutes into added time, but Perth were able to hold on for the win.
Western Sydney remain in third spot despite defeat, but they missed a golden opportunity to chase down top two Wellington Phoenix and Melbourne Victory, who remain four points above them.
"We just weren't good enough and we got what we deserved today," Rudan said.
"That was easily our worst performance of the season."
