The Western Sydney Wanderers switch focus to Melbourne Victory in their second match against the club this season this Saturday night.
Babbel’s men will be looking to turn the tide on their season following a very disappointing defeat to Melbourne City mid-week.
Two goals in two first-half minutes helped a 10-man Melbourne City defeat the Wanderers 2-0 in the first Hyundai A-League fixture of 2019.
The visitors stunned the Wanderers late in opening 45, capitalising on two defensive fades and producing quickfire strikes from Lachlan Wales and Ritchie De Laet.
City’s two-goal buffer looked less secure following the 57th-minute dismissal of Rostyn Griffiths, but the Wanderers were unable to take advantage and saw a frustrating evening underlined by Oriol Riera’s missed penalty and some sensational goalkeeper from Eugene Galekovic.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Red & Black with the Wanderers able to take something out of the fantastic individual performance of Alexander Baumjohann, as well as the energetic display from Abraham Majok who came on as a substitute late in the second half.
Victory, on the other hand, extended their unbeaten run in the Hyundai A-League to eight games after a 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix last Friday night.
Ola Toivonen scored yet again at AAMI Park, cancelling out David Williams’ second-half opener for Phoenix.
The result was enough to move Victory to the top of the table for now with the club needing a win to secure their spot at the top.
The last time these two sides met, Victory sent an ominous warning to the rest of the Hyundai A-League, crushing the Red & Black 4-0.
Victory played out on an attacking masterclass, putting the result beyond doubt by half-time as they scored three goals inside 39 minutes before former Wanderer Terry Antonis added a fourth late on.
The Red & Black will need to be on alert tonight and ready to kick-start their positive start to the season, and it all begins against the Victory.
