The Western Sydney Wanderers are into the FFA Cup Semi Finals for the second year running after defeating Melbourne City 2-1 at AAMI Park.
City were left to rue a string of missed chances, highlighted by an early penalty miss from Bruno Fornaroli, as the visiting Wanderers capitalised on City’s profligacy.
Fornaroli had smacked the crossbar with a header minutes before Oriol Riera put Western Sydney ahead with a sublime near post header from Alexander Baumjohann’s corner delivery.
Markus Babbel’s side doubled the lead with a killer second on the cusp of half time. A poor giveaway from Luke Brattan invited the Wanderers forward through Riera and Jaushua Sotirio before Roly Bonevacia swept the ball home from close range.
Riley McGree handed City a route back when he fired an emphatic response for City early in the second half, with his powerful strike on the edge of the area leaving Wanderers goalkeeper Danijel Nizic rooted to the spot.
The chances continued to flow for the 2016 winners but Nizic came up trumps with several fine saves – including a fine near post stop to deny McGree late on – to see the Red and Black through to the final four.
