AFTER Noah Botic’s fourth goal in sixth games delivered Western United a 1-0 win over Perth Glory, coach John Aloisi says the striker’s purple patch is reward for grinding through a tough A-League Men season.<\/p>\n
Botic’s well-taken finish in the 53rd minute proved enough for cellar-dwellers United to claim all three points at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium and snap Perth’s six-game unbeaten run.<\/p>\n
Olyroos striker Botic should have made it 2-0 in the 84th minute when he tried to finish Rhys Bozinovski’s cutback from close range, but instead he accidentally flicked the ball up and handballed it.<\/p>\n
It was a frustrating end to an otherwise impressive showing from 22-year-old Botic, who has found form after a rough 12-game scoring drought.<\/p>\n
“We said at the start of the season Noah needs to play regular football,” Aloisi said.<\/p>\n
“He has to be playing on a consistent basis, and even though we haven’t got experienced players up top around him, he needs to find a way to get through difficult situations<\/p>\n
“It’s been difficult, it has, for him and for us as a team, because we haven’t been winning games, creating chances, not putting them away, and as a striker the pressure can build on you<\/p>\n
“But Noah never shied away, kept on working on his game in training, always looking to improve, and that’s why I had belief that he would turn it around – and he is.<\/p>\n
“He was excellent today.”<\/p>\n
Perth should have equalised in the 90th minute after Darryl Lachman headed a corner on to the bar, then Daniel Bennie volleyed the follow-up, from point-blank range, over.<\/p>\n
There was also a contentious moment when Perth’s David Williams rifled home on the hour mark, but it was called back for a foul from Adam Taggart on Kane Vidmar in the lead-up.<\/p>\n
Aloisi was adamant it was a foul, but Perth assistant coach Nahuel Arrarte, standing in for coach Alen Stajcic who was out via a yellow card suspension, was less convinced.<\/p>\n
“Haven’t had a chance to look back at it,” he said.<\/p>\n
“From where I was… I thought it looked like a fair goal. <\/p>\n
“Once we go back and analyse it and watch the game again we will have a clearer picture from a different angle, but from where I was, I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”<\/p>\n
The victory, United’s 50th in the ALM, was arguably deserved, with skipper Josh Risdon, who slipped through Botic for the goal, superb.<\/p>\n
“We controlled the game and dominated the game from start to nearly finish – we felt that we could have won that a lot easier than we did,” Aloisi said.<\/p>\n
It was a frustrating result for Perth, who will remain at least seven points outside the finals places this round.<\/p>\n
“Personally, I believe we were poor today. We didn’t play our best game,” Arrarte said.<\/p>\n
“We went on a really good run of six games undefeated and now we’ve just got to make sure that we put this performance and result behind us and concentrate on the upcoming games.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFTER Noah Botic’s fourth goal in sixth games delivered Western United a 1-0 win over Perth Glory, coach John Aloisi says the striker’s purple patch is reward for grinding through a tough A-League Men season. Botic’s well-taken finish in the 53rd minute proved enough for cellar-dwellers United to claim all three points at Ballarat’s Mars […]<\/p>\n