THEY SAID IT: “We smashed them” – Marko Rudan was in bullish form after his Western Sydney’s Wanderers side played reigning premiers Melbourne City off the park in a clinical and mature 1-0 win. It’s not often you see Jamie Maclaren subbed off but the Wanderers completely nullified his threat.
MAN OF THE WEEK: Hiroshi Ibusuki has had his knockers this season but the Japanese striker bagged his first ALM hat-trick as Adelaide triumphed 4-3 against Sydney FC.
TALKING POINT: Was Unite Round a success? It was an improvement on the loathed grand final decision but in the middle of summer and with men and women spread across three venues it didn’t have the same buzz and intensity as the NRL’s Magic Round or AFL’s Gather Round.
STAT ATTACK: Kosta Barbarouses has been in a rich vein of form and the Kiwi international continued, scoring in his fifth straight game in Wellington’s 4-3 win over Perth. He joins Oskar Zawada and Tomer Hemed as the only Nix players to bag five on the spin.
BEAT THAT: Who had Aleksandr Susjnar down as a new age Roberto Carlos? The Perth defender drove with the ball towards goal in the first half, saw no challenges from Wellington and unleashed a 30-metre rocket past Alex Paulsen.
UNDER PRESSURE: Ufuk Talay will have been furious with the performance Sydney FC tossed up against Adelaide. The Sydney boss has begun to see green shoots in recent weeks but it’s clear he needs reinforcements in January, with a mounting injury toll forcing him to blood the kids.
UP NEXT: Brisbane play Macarthur on Thursday and can leapfrog the Bulls into the top six with a win. On Friday, Wellington face Melbourne Victory in a straight shootout with top spot on the line, and struggling Sydney face Newcastle. Perth head to Western Sydney and Melbourne City are away to the Central Coast.
