Macarthur FC add another three points to their name after defeating their rivals, Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 in Round 4 of the Isuzu Ute A-League at CommBank Stadium.
With a slow start from the Bulls and Kurto pulling some baller saves in the first half, the two teams went into half time with no goals. Then came out a more pressing Bulls side with Tomislav Uskok opening the scoring for the match and Jake Hollman securing the three points for the Bulls with a second goal.
Key Moments
9’| Al Hassan Toure managed to get The Bulls first shot with a strike from outside the box, but it went wide.
14’| Filip Kurto had to make a one-handed save after Dimitrios Petratos made an unexpected strike towards the goal.
33’| CLOSE CHANCE! Tommy Oar took a vicious strike from long-range, which smacked against the post but went out for a goal kick.
37’| SAVE! Kurto made a great diving save to prevent Bernie Ibini’s close-range header from entering the net.
53’| New signing, Adrian Mariappa, blocked Petratos’ shot on target.
53’| Lachie Rose had a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper, and his close-range shot missed the target. However, the decision was offside.
64’| GOAL FOR THE BULLS! Daniel De Silva provided a cross in the box to Tomislav Uskok, in which he had two shots – one saved by Tomas Meijas and the second was the follow-up to give The Bulls the lead.
72’| Jake Hollman had an excellent opportunity to increase Macarthur’s lead when he beat the defender by lobbing the ball over, but Meijas comfortably saved the shot.
74’| GOAL FOR THE BULLS! Substitute Hollman gives Macarthur a two-goal lead after putting the ball past Meijas inside the box, which went in off the post. De Silva provided the assist.
78’| Hollman had another opportunity to increase The Bulls’ lead, but the shot went straight to the keeper.
80’| Mariappa once again blocks Petratos’ shot on goal to prevent The Wanderers from closing the gap.
“It’s very important for us especially with the change of personnel we’ve had through pre-season,” said Milicic, whose side still haven’t conceded from open play.
“We defended well when we needed to and that laid a good solid foundation for us.
“We go home delighted and the clean sheet was a major focus for the playing group.
“Tonight was always going to be a difficult game for us. We had three games in six days and (a group of) players up in the grandstand.
“It’s a good start for us, but the desire has been excellent from the boys with the amount of games we had in a short space of time.”
Western Sydney Wanderers: 0
Macarthur FC: 2 (Uskok 64’, Hollman 74’)
Western Sydney Wanderers: 20. MEJIAS Tomas (GK), 3. TRAORE Adama, 4. WILLIAMS Rhys (C), 8. UGARKOVIC Steven, 9. IBINI-ISEI Bernie, 11. OGAWA Keijiro (7. NAJJARINE Ramy 73’), 14. TROISI James, 22. KOUTROUMBIS John, 23. PETRATOS Dimitrios, 29. ANTONIS Terry (36. LOPANE Alessandro 85’), 39. AQUILINA Thomas (13. RUSSELL Tate 74’)
Substitutes: 1. MARGUSH Daniel, 6. MOURDOKOUTAS Tass, 21. SWIBEL Jordan, 33. NATTA Mark,
Macarthur FC: 12. KURTO Filip (GK), 7. DE SILVA Daniel, 11. OAR Thomas (22. ROSE Liam 61’), 14. NAJJAR Moudi (4. MEREDITH James 83’), 15. SUSNJAR Aleksandar, 17. NOONE Craig (C), 20. USKOK Tomislav, 23. MARIAPPA Adrian, 24. M’MOMBWA, 31. ROSE Lachlan (19. RUHS Michael 89’), 35. TOURE Al Hassan (21. HOLLMAN Jake 61’)
Substitutes: 1. SUMAN Nicholas (GK), 2. MCGING Jake, 36. MCLOUGHLIN Jack
Venue: CommBank Stadium
Referee: Chris Beath
Assistant Referees: Anton Shchetinin and Ashley Beecham
Fourth Official: Stephen Lucas
