Western Sydney Wanderers have kept their hopes of retaining their Asian Champions League title alive after they drew 1-all with FC Seoul at Pirtek Stadium on Tuesday night.
In one of the more eventful finishes to a game you will see, the two main talking points from the night came during an action-packed final five minutes.
The first when Wanderers substitute Tomi Juric appeared to have been brought down in the box in the dying minutes.
In the eyes of Wanderers fans and coach Tony Popovic, it was a clear penalty, but the referee did not share their view.
As fate would have it, the visitors had their shot at sealing a match-winner denied during injury time, when veteran Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic held out a long-range shot.
Replays would later show the ball appeared to have crossed the line during Covic’s attempted save.
The 1-all draw leaves both teams on five points, meaning the fight for second spot in the so-called ‘group of death’ is likely to go down to the wire.
A draw was probably a fair enough result for both sides, but the Wanderers did dominate proceedings for the majority of the contest.
Any chances of it being a safe, defensive game were all but dashed in the 12th minute when in-form Wanderers striker Kerem Bulut capitalised on a defensive error when a defender headed the ball into his path. Bulut lined up his shot and hammered it past the keeper and into the back of the net for the opening goal.
Fan favourite Bulut then jumped over the advertising boards, before getting down on one knee and giving as a salute as he celebrated his goal with the Wanderers faithful.
The visitors were yet to score in three previous attempts and in the first half, they did little to change that, often looking out of sorts as they struggled to gain any momentum.
Labinot Haliti was given a couple of chances to put the Wanderers 2-0 up before half time, but was unable to take advantage.
The visitors were a completely different side when they returned after the half-time break, looking dangerous for the first time of the night.
Colombian forward Mauricio Molina was desperately unlucky not to score in the 53rd minute, when he unleashed a cannon ball-like shot, which rattled the upright but somehow didn’t make it over the line. The Wanderers weathered the storm for as long as they could, but were losing their grip in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
The Wanderers tried to inject some life back into the contest when Tomi Juric was brought on as a substitute for Beliti in the 64th minute.
But just a few minutes later, their defence finally gave way when Éverton Santos crossed in from the right for substitute Go Yo-han to header it in for an equaliser.
During the drama of the dying minutes, both sides had their chances to take all three points, but in the end they had to settle for the draw.
With Kashima Antlers defeating Guangzhou Evergrande 2-1 overnight, it should make their visit to Parramatta on Aril 21 all the more interesting.
It is a game striker Kerem Bulut is looking forward to after the three points went begging.
‘‘The first half we really dominated, we should have went two or three, but unfortunately we couldn’t get the win,’’ he said.
‘‘We probably shot ourselves in the foot, we played so well, but the little mistakes cost us.
‘‘We’ll just take it game by game and I think we’ll beat Kashima next time here,’’ he added.
Bulut said coach Tony Popovic was happy with their performance and wants them to regroup ahead of their clash with Kashima in two weeks time.
‘‘It’s the Champions League, every team is dangerous, every team can win.
‘‘We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and when Kashima comes on, just get the three points.’’
Bulut has had little trouble finding the back of the net during his short time with the Wanderers, with last night taking his tally to five goals since joining the club.
‘‘I’m enjoying my game, I’m scoring goals so it’s good at the moment,’’ he said.
