Wanderers draw a blank as Seoul hangs tough

Western Sydney Wanderers picked up a vital point as it played out a 0-0 draw with FC Seoul in a tense AFC Champions League tussle in the Korea Republic on Tuesday night.

Western Sydney's Labinot Haliti (centre) breaks clear agaunst FC Seoul (AAP)

Western Sydney's Labinot Haliti breaks clear against FC Seoul (AAP) Source: AP

The defending champion gave as good as it got and could easily have taken all three points as it remained second in Group H ahead of Seoul on goal difference with four points from its three games.

The Wanderers were forced to make a late change with striker Tomi Juric pulling up sore during the warm-up and his place going to Karem Bulut, who came closest for the visitor in a tight first half with a shot that lacked the necessary conviction.

Tony Popovic's team suffered another blow four minutes from the interval when the versatile Matthew Spiranovic was forced off injured, with Jason Trifiro taking his place.
Compact and hard to break down, the Wanderers were typically gritty as they played with patience and cohesion to keep the home side at arm's length.

Nikita Rukavytsya was nearly in on goal in the 60th minute as he arrowed onto a superb ball from Yusuke Tanaka but a crucial interception just took him out of the equation.

And they came even closer four minutes later when Labinot Haliti smashed a drive against the woodwork from outside the box after being teed up by Romeo Castelan.

The Wanderers came close again in the 69th minute with Castelen hitting the side netting after Bulut's close-range shot was initially saved as Seoul somehow kept its goal intact.

And the home side got lucky twice more in the dying minutes with the ever dangerous Bulut spurning two chances to kill off the contest.

 

 

 

 

 


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2 min read
Published 18 March 2015 9:39pm
Updated 19 March 2015 9:41am
Source: SBS

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