The Western Sydney Wanderers Foxtel Y-League team have defeated Canberra United 2-0 at Marconi Stadium on Saturday afternoon to kick off their campaign in the best possible way.
Early goals from Mathieu Cordier and Kosta Grozos earned the three points, as the Wanderers look to make the Foxtel Y-League Grand Final for the third year in succession.
The Wanderers boys put the pressure on from the opening whistle and took the lead in the eighth minute. Jarrod Carluccio beat a defender on the right side of the penalty area before sending a low cross to the far post, and Cordier was on hand to sidefoot the ball home.
The Red & Black made it 2-0 four minutes later when Grozos found space 20-yards from goal and drilled a shot into the bottom corner.
Grozos nearly turned provider midway through the opening period as Dean Pelekanos headed over from his corner kick. Those two players combined again a few minutes later as Pelekanos set up Grozos, however, the shot was off target.
The shots kept coming as the Wanderers continued to dominate possession.
On 34 minutes Wanderers skipper Mohamed Al Taay did well to evade a challenge before firing wide from 25 yards, and with halftime approaching Cordier could have had a second goal when he got on the end of Mohamed Adam’s cutback, but Cordier couldn’t keep his effort down.
The Red & Black continued this momentum into the second half. Ten minutes after the restart, Fabian Monge showed great skill to pick out Adam, who tested Canberra goalkeeper Samuel Brown from just inside the area. The wingbacks then combined, with Tate Russell shooting across the face of goal from Cordier’s cross.
Pelekanos was having a solid Foxtel Y-League debut and in the 67th minute he played a fantastic through ball to Wanderers substitute Jacob Vasiliou, who turned neatly and sent a shot wide of the post.
It wasn’t until the final twenty minutes that Nicholas Suman was called into meaningful action. The Wanderers shotstopper was at full stretch on 73 minutes to tip a left-wing cross to safety and Suman backed that up ten minutes later by making a comfortable save from Zachary Barbatano.
The Wanderers final chance came when Al Taay made a nice run into the area, but his effort was saved by Brown and we weren’t able to add to our tally.
Following the bye in the opening round, the Wanderers now sit in third place in the Foxtel Y-League Conference B. The Red & Black will next take on Central Coast Mariners on Sunday 1 December at 10:30am.
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 (Mathieu Cordier 8’, Kosta Grozos 12’)
Canberra United 0
Western Sydney Wanderers: Nicholas Suman, Dean Pelekanos, Noah Pagden, Mohamed Al Taay (c), Tate Russell, Rory Jordan (Lochlan Constable 58’), Fabian Monge (Jamie Percevski 80’), Mathieu Cordier, Kosta Grozos, Mohamed Adam, Jarrod Carluccio (Jacob Vasiliou 64’)
Unused substitute: Jack Greenwood
