Lachlan Wales was delighted that fortune turned in Western United’s favour as both he and his club broke lengthy droughts in the 2-1 win against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
A super sub performance from Alessandro Diamanti lifted the Green and Black to come from behind and claim an upset victory as United took their first points against their Victorian state rivals and Wales scored his first goal for the club against his ex-employers.
The former City forward notched the equaliser in the 61st minute to cancel out Craig Noone’s 12th-minute opener, before the A-League’s all-time top scorer Besart Berisha struck the winner in the 66th minute to end a barren stretch of four games without a goal.
The pressure was seriously mountain on Mark Rudan’s side as City piled forward in search of a late equaliser and a series of chances went begging, but Wales believes United were due their share of good luck having been edged to defeat in three of their last four matches.
"I’m just stoked for the lads to get the win," Wales said.
"We rode our luck at the end there but the last few weeks we’ve put in a good shift and been a bit unlucky."
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It took Wales 11 matches to open his account in Western United colours but the 23-year-old picked his moment to come back and haunt his former club in his third start of the campaign.
He added: "It has probably been a long time coming.
"I probably feel like I’ve been getting in good positions and Bes [Berisha] was good enough to put one on my head."
Wales admits his teammates were well aware of the unwanted record of five straight defeats against City since the club’s formation but insists they always believed they could rewrite the script.
"You can’t ignore it, we’ve lost five times to them," he said.
"In the end of the day, it’s 90 minutes, the score starts at 0-0.
"We knew we could do it. They are a quality opposition. They move the ball so quick, you’ve got to be patient. I think we just chose our times right."
Wales held special praise for United’s Italian supremo, Diamanti, who entered the field in the 57th minute and played a major role in both goals to help swing the game back in the Green and Black’s favour within nine minutes of his arrival.
"[Diamanti] is a superstar. He came on at the end and he’s had about seven players around him. He’s taking the mickey," Wales said.
"He’s a great person, a great bloke to have around the club and it’s a pleasure working with him."
City forward Andrew Nabbout admits his high-flying team should have extended their first-half lead but agreed that Diamanti was ultimately the game-changer.
"First half we were a little bit slow," said Nabbout.
"Even when we went up, we could have put them to bed early. We had a few chances to bury them.
"In the second half, they were waiting for our transitional moments and we gave away the ball a couple of times and you know what Diamanti is like on the ball, he can create something out of nothing."
"It’s a bad day at the office."
Next fixtures – Matchweek 15
Newcastle Jets v Western United
Monday, 5 April 2021
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
Kick-off: 5.05pm AEST
Match Centre
Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City
Monday, 5 April 2021
Venue: WIN Stadium
Kick-off: 7.10pm AEST
Match Centre
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