Never say die. That was the story at Campbelltown Sports Stadium as the Bulls refused to let a one-goal deficit become a defeat, turning a tight contest on its head in the final stretch.
Substitute Ryan Fraser was the man of the moment, coming off the bench to level the scores from the penalty spot and then setting up defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis for the winner, wiping out Perth’s lead and sending the home faithful away delighted.
- Final score: Macarthur 2-1 Perth Glory, with the Bulls coming from 0-1 down in the closing minutes.
- Ryan Fraser made the difference off the bench, scoring the 86th-minute equaliser and then assisting the winner.
- Jonathan Aspropotamitis popped up with the 89th-minute winner to complete the turnaround.
- Alexander Robinson’s four saves kept the Bulls within reach until the late drama.
The Bulls began the first half at Campbelltown Sports Stadium in a settled 4-2-3-1, with Liam Rose and Oliver Randazzo anchoring the middle of the park. The first sight of goal came in the 14th minute, when Randazzo found Ben Gibson, and his right-footed effort from outside the box flashed just to the right of the target.
Alexander Robinson was called into action in the 30th minute, standing tall to save Lebib’s right-footed shot from the left side of the box, with the effort going straight at the Bulls goalkeeper.
Macarthur answered in the 34th minute as Gibson slipped Luke Vickery in on the right side of the box, but his right-footed shot drifted just wide to the left. Two minutes of added time were announced, and it was 0-0 at the break at Campbelltown, with everything still to play for.
The Bulls came out of the break on the front foot, with Oliver Randazzo seeing a shot blocked from the centre of the box and Nathan Paull cracking one wide from distance. Sasa Ognenovski then turned to his bench in the 55th minute, sending on Ryan Fraser and Bernardo Oliveira for Luke Vickery and Connor Pain.
Perth Glory pushed back and Alexander Robinson denied Sebastian Despotovski from the centre of the box before Lachlan Jackson’s header was blocked. The visitors then struck in the 59th minute, Tom Lawrence collecting a pass from William Freney and firing from outside the box into the bottom right corner to make it 0-1, and Robinson had to hold Jaiden Kucharski’s effort from range moments later.
Macarthur responded with fresh legs and plenty of intent. Bernardo headed wide from a Fraser cross, Musa Touré replaced Apostolos Stamatelopoulos in the 64th minute, and Paull flashed a left-footed effort just past the top left corner.
Robinson kept the Bulls in it with a sharp low stop from Tadiwanashe Kuzamba from close range in the 76th minute, and Tatsuki Nara had a shot blocked from another Fraser cross with ten minutes to play. The Bulls kept pushing, and the momentum was firmly with the home side.
Then came the breakthrough. In the 86th minute Fraser stepped up and sent the penalty into the bottom left corner to level it at 1-1, and three minutes later the Bulls were in front as Fraser swung in a set-piece cross and Jonathan Aspropotamitis rose at the right side of the six-yard box to power a header into the top right corner.
Goals
- 59′ T. Lawrence Perth Glory FC
- 86′ R. Fraser Macarthur FC
- 89′ J. Aspropotamitis Macarthur FC
Cards
- 21′ Yellow card A. Lebib Perth Glory FC
- 36′ Yellow card L. Rose Macarthur FC
- 70′ Yellow card B. Gibson Macarthur FC
- 95′ Yellow card D. Bosnjak Macarthur FC
Next match
The Bulls head on the road next, travelling to face Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday 24 October, with kick-off at 3:00pm local time, looking to build on an opening-round win that has them sitting second and level on points with the early leaders.
