Dylan Pierias has propelled Western Sydney Wanderers up to second spot on the A-League Men ladder, the winger scoring the only goal in an energy-sapping 1-0 win over Melbourne City.
The Wanderers’ victory at CommBank Stadium on Friday ended City’s six-game unbeaten run and finished in a flurry of controversy.
A 90th-minute corner into the Wanderers box deflected onto the arm of Western Sydney's Josh Brillante and left City screaming for a penalty.
But after an extensive VAR review, referee Jonathan Barreiro waved away City’s protests.
The Melbourne club's goalkeeper Jamie Young and playmaker Tolgay Arslan were booked after protesting against Barreiro’s decision, with the Wanderers holding on to secure victory.
City coach Aurelio Vidmar substituted captain Jamie Maclaren with 20 minutes to go and his side now sit in fourth spot.
“I think everyone thought it was a penalty except for the referee,” Vidmar said.
“There’s probably been less given in the past… but to be honest, we weren’t good enough so that would have been a lucky thing for us.
“We just weren’t positive enough you can have a lot of the ball but if you're not going to be positive with it, then it's going to be difficult.”
The Wanderers began with a bang, Marcus Antonsson finishing past Young after just three minutes only for a handball in the build-up to rob the Swedish striker of a sixth goal for the campaign.
Antonsson was looking menacing and he was the catalyst for the Wanderers goal.
The forward brought the ball down and spun to find Alex Badolato who surged towards the City box.
Badolato slipped a well-weighted pass between the City defence and Pierias was on hand to fire home.
The Wanderers winger nearly turned provider soon after scoring, Young denying Antonsson from close-range following a Pierias delivery.
The Wanderers were playing at a frenetic pace and as well as threatening City they were also starving the supply into Maclaren.
Creative lynchpin Arslan was barely allowed an inch and Maclaren looked increasingly frustrated as the first half wore on.
City boss Vidmar threw fringe Socceroos winger Andrew Nabbout into the fray with half-an-hour left.
Nabbout hadn’t played a competitive match since injuring his achilles early in the pre-season and he quickly gave City a new outlook.
They continually turned to the right flank where Callum Talbot was overlapping but the Wanderers centre-back pairing of captain Marcelo and Alex Bonetig were able to keep them at bay.
City continued to press and thought their chance to get square had come when Brillante’s apparent handball was sent for review, but the Wanderers were left breathing a sigh of relief.
“The discipline, the energy, the belief, tactically we were top in the first half,” said Wanderers coach Marko Rudan.
“Our high pressing and our cues, they really took it on board which led to turnovers.
“We played through them in the first half for fun to be fair, and they're a good side.
“I think they only had one shot on goal in the second half.”
