For the second week in a row, off field incidents and announcements have taken precedence over the action on the field in the A-Leagues.
All eyes were on the Melbourne Derby on Saturday night until it came to an abrupt halt 20 minutes in thanks to some moronic spectators rushing the field and injuring City goalkeeper Tom Glover.
Active supporter groups had been making a united stand by walking out of matches in protest of the APL’s decision to award Sydney the Grand Final for the next three years. It all came crashing down in one fell swoop at AAMI Park.
The ramifications from the acts of a very small minority are already being felt. The travelling Glory contingent at Campbelltown had a banner confiscated and so did the Bullpen, the Macarthur active supporter group. It will be interesting to see what happens on Friday night in terms of the planned walkout and how stadium security/police deal with the Glory active support.
Protesting aside, the Glory faithful had reason to be happy and excited on Thursday morning when it was confirmed Adam Taggart had been signed on a three-year deal. The Bruno Fornaroli replacement is here and getting him on the pitch sooner rather than later will provide added threat to a frontline which needs extra support.
We are still the lowest scoring team in the league, equal with Brisbane averaging less than a goal per game. At least in this match, we were able to create a few very good chances which we should have taken. I’d much rather be ruing missed opportunities than bemoaning a complete lack of them.
Following a hard fought and very even 15 minutes to begin the match, an opening was created thanks to some neat footwork by Keegan Jelacic. A quick turn on the touchline enabled him to get free from Ivan Vujica and run into the penalty area. A neat pass squared into the middle should have been dispatched by Ryan Williams, but instead ended up skied over the bar.
Jelacic was the man on the receiving end of our next big chance, failing to direct Salim Khelifi’s cross on target following a burst of pace on the wing to get separation from Daniel De Silva.
The wingers and full backs have been at the heart of all our attacking threat in the last two matches. They’ve both created goal scoring opportunities and been on the end of them, something our new strikers have struggled with following Fornaroli’s departure.
David Williams has started the last two games but flattered to deceive, failing to register a shot in the win over Western United and managing just two on the weekend, an audacious bicycle kick attempt and a long-range effort just before half time stinging the gloves of Filip Kurto.
Ben Azubel came on as a late sub after we went a goal down and failed to make a meaningful impact on the game, most notably taking a chance away from Matt Hatch as the ball was bouncing toward him for a volley. He showed glimpses against Newcastle early in the season but hasn’t done enough to suggest he is capable of being our starting man up top.
To be fair to him, his aerial threat hasn’t been utilised to its full potential yet. Our set piece play remains a bit of a problem. The delivery into the box from dead ball situations has not been great, and it’s frustrating when we have quite a few players more than capable of winning aerial duels.
Even more than that is conceding from set pieces. For most of the match, I was impressed with the way we defended, especially in the first half. Our front three put on a lot of pressure high up the field and on the few occasions Macarthur got through quickly and had a chance to use the pace of Daniel Arzani and Al-Hassan Toure, our defence was compact, and we mitigated any threat they offered.
The one time we didn’t close down quick enough was the moment which cost us. A corner from Toure was worked back to him outside the area. No one closed down, giving him time to pick out a ball to the back post. Bachana Arabuli, who had been kept quiet the whole game, got free of Jacob Muir for a simple header past Liam Reddy.
The Bulls leapt from 10th up into the top four after their narrow win, showing how evenly contested the season has been up to this point. Toure was lively and could have gotten on the scoresheet had he reacted quicker to a pass made by Ulises Davila. The Macarthur defence should get most of the credit for keeping the Glory attack quiet in the second half, one of those being Jonathan Aspro in his first match against his former club.
The Glory are now back in last following Western United’s win over Western Sydney. A really positive first half showing was undermined slightly by an underwhelming second half bereft of chances. We held our own throughout and probably should have come away with more. With Taggart now in the side, we’ve got a player with pedigree who knows how to find the back of the net consistently.
We have one more game to play before he becomes available in January, and it’s a Distance Derby at Macedonia Park. Wellington are the highest scorers in the league but have also failed to keep a clean sheet like us. It shapes up to be an entertaining affair on Friday night, one we’ll be ready for as we look to end 2022 on a winning note.
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