HIROSHI Ibusuki’s double has powered Western United to their first win of the A-League Men season, a 3-1 defeat of struggling Perth Glory that kicked off Unite Round in Sydney.<\/p>\n
After wasting ample chances in a scoreless first half at Allianz Stadium on Friday, United bagged two goals in five minutes to stun the Glory and erase their unlikely 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
United appeared home when towering Japanese striker Ibusuki notched his second goal with 15 minutes to play.<\/p>\n
It was his seventh goal in seven games against Perth.<\/p>\n
“It’s definitely an overdue win because the performances have been good,” said United coach John Aloisi.<\/p>\n
“I wouldn’t say that we were clinical because we probably could’ve scored six, but we looked dangerous every time we went forward.”<\/p>\n
A late red card to Dylan Leonard put a damper on United’s win, with the teenage defender set to miss next week’s clash against Melbourne Victory after pushing Cristian Caicedo at the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
The Glory have now lost four of five games to begin the season and are still searching for a maiden victory under new coach David Zdrilic.<\/p>\n
Given their league-worst goal difference (-14), Perth will fall to the bottom of the ladder if 13th-placed Brisbane Roar can beat or draw with Adelaide United on Saturday.<\/p>\n
“It’s clear that we’re in a transitional phase,” Zdrilic said. “Obviously we wanted the season to start in a different way, but we’re trying to fix things.<\/p>\n
“This team is going to end up a lot different to where it is now, but at this moment there’s got to be patience.”<\/p>\n
At 17, Leonard became the youngest goalscorer in United’s short history when he made good on an inch-perfect corner from Ben Garuccio in the 60th minute.<\/p>\n
It came after Trent Ostler scored only the Glory’s second goal this season – and first in 339 minutes of football – from a counter-attack ignited by Khoa Ngo.<\/p>\n
Perth threatened to fall in a heap only minutes later when Noah Botic found strike weapon Ibusuki inexplicably unmarked in the box.<\/p>\n
The cross helped Botic redeem himself for blowing two golden chances in the first half, including when he sprayed a header into the crossbar at point-blank range.<\/p>\n
Botic was at the centre of Ibusuki’s second goal, again picking out the star recruit from the right wing.<\/p>\n
This time Ibusuki had more work to do, beating three defenders before driving the final nail into Perth’s coffin.<\/p>\n
Leonard was shown a red card just before stoppage time in the second half for his contact on Caicedo, but the Colombian fired his free kick above the woodwork.<\/p>\n
“If he pulled him, it’s the right call,” Aloisi said of the red card.<\/p>\n
In the only other sour note for Aloisi’s side, injury-plagued midfielder Sebastian Pasquali hurt his left leg in a hard collision with Perth’s Luis Canga and needed to leave the field just before halftime.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think it’s good … he’s on crutches,” Aloisi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HIROSHI Ibusuki’s double has powered Western United to their first win of the A-League Men season, a 3-1 defeat of struggling Perth Glory that kicked off Unite Round in Sydney. After wasting ample chances in a scoreless first half at Allianz Stadium on Friday, United bagged two goals in five minutes to stun the Glory […]<\/p>\n