Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Parramatta: Tomi Juric came off the bench to secure Western Sydney Wanderers a slim advantage to take to Riyadh for the second leg of the AFC Champions League final next week, scoring the only goal of the game as the Australian side defeated Al Hilal at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday.
The 23-year-old made an immediate impact on his return from an injury-enforced absence to give the A-League side the lead after the first leg when he struck with a first time finish in the 64th minute following Antony Golec’s perfectly flighted cross from the left.
The home side created nothing of note before the 58th minute introduction of Juric, who gave their attack purpose as the home side punished an Al Hilal side that had dominated proceedings without causing Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic significant concern.
Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic included striker Brendon Santalab in his starting line-up, but left both Juric and Socceroos centre-half Mathew Spiranovic on the bench while Saud Kariri captained Al Hilal after shaking off the effects of a cold that saw him pay a visit to hospital earlier in the week.
Al HIlal threatened to make the rapidest of starts when, with less than a minute on the clock, Salman Al Faraj stormed through the defence before cutting the ball back to Salem Mohammed Al Dawsari, whose snapshot was deflected wide of the target.
That early scare prompted Western Sydney to tighten up in defence, ceding the majority of possession to the Saudi side and allowing Al Hilal to play in front of them while asking the Riyadh club to find a way through.
However, the Blues struggled in the final third; Abdullah Zori Al Dossary’s long range attempt was well off target and it took until first half injury time for Al Hilal to fashion a genuine goal scoring opportunity when, after the Sydney defence made a mistake, Thiago Neves slid the ball into Nassir Al Shamrani, only for his effort to be deflected wide.
Juric came off the bench just before the hour mark to replace Santalab and within minutes of his introduction the Australian striker had made his mark, sending the capacity home support into raptures with a fine first-time finish.
By the 72nd minute it looked like he was set to double Western Sydney’s advantage when he spearheaded a break, running at the backtracking defence before stroking an effort from the edge of the area that beat goalkeeper Abdullah Mohammed Al Sdairy, only to come back off the right post.
Al Hilal had little response to Juric’s strike and coach Laurentiu Reghecampf will be looking for an improved performance in front of his side’s own fans next Saturday at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh if the AFC Champions League crown is to return to Saudi Arabia.