Bulut double helps Wanderers dent Roar's finals hopes

A brace from Kerem Bulut helped Western Sydney Wanderers hurt Brisbane Roar's finals chances with a 4-1 win at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, in a catch-up game originally scheduled for December.

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Western Sydney Wanderers star Kerem Bulut celebrates the second of his two goals against Brisbane Roar. (AAP) Source: Getty Images Asia Pacific

Roar coach Frans Thijssen surprisingly began with Luke Brattan in the centre of defence and as expected the home side dominated possession from the start.

Yet it was Western Sydney which was looking more dangerous on the counter attack. On 15 minutes, a ball was played over the top for Kerem Bulut, who forced Jamie Young into a difficult save from a tight angle.

Labinot Haliti was first to the loose ball and attempted to side foot into an empty net, but Brattan arrived just in time to clear the ball to safety for Brisbane.

Five minutes later the Roar was caught out again. Romeo Castelen sent an angled pass to the left for Haliti, who made up for his earlier mistake by sending a perfectly placed cross into the path of Nikita Rukavytsya on the edge of the box.

The Wanderers striker thumped the ball past Young with a first time shot to give his side a 1-0 lead.
Despite creating few legitimate chances Brisbane hit back on 41 minutes. A swung in corner hit the unfortunate Jonathan Aspropotamitis who inadvertently steered the ball into his net.

Parity lasted less than two minutes as Western Sydney once more caught out the Roar defence with a swift counter attack.

Castelen was played through by Castelen who burst into the area. He coolly stepped inside and squared the ball for Bulut who drove it into the top of the net to make it 2-1.

Brisbane came out for the second half with renewed vigour and forced Ante Covic into some difficult saves.

But it was the Wanderers who extended their lead before the hour. Yojiro Takahagi won the ball for Western Sydney in the Roar half before playing wide to Castelen on the edge of the area.

The Dutchman thundered a shot into the near top corner to give his side a 3-1 lead.
In the 88th minute, Bulut ran through on goal and neatly tucked the ball inside Young's near post to seal a convincing 4-1 win for Western Sydney and the striker's second of the night.

The victory moves the Wanderers off the bottom of the A-League table on goal difference, while Roar remains five points behind Melbourne City in sixth place, although Brisbane does have a game in hand.

Brisbane defenderJerome Polenz described his side's performance as a "disgrace", refusing to use availability concerns or fitness as an excuse.

"We have to analyse everything," he said.

"We cannot continue to play like that - that was a disgrace to our fans, to ourselves.

"There's nothing more to say. There's no excuses."

Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic was delighted to see his side finally put away the chances it had been generating.

"It was a good performance from start to finish," Popovic said.

"In patches, we've been very good this season but we keep getting punished for mistakes and keep having to come from behind.

"Tonight, we took those chances... it was thoroughly deserved."


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3 min read
Published 25 March 2015 8:55pm
Updated 26 March 2015 8:46am
Source: SBS

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