Cancelling out Tate Russell’s 21st minute goal through a 30th minute Jamie Maclaren penalty, City was unable to draw any momentum from their leveller; plodding their way to a share of the spoils despite out possessing their foes 60-40 and outshooting them 16 to six.

The draw leaves City ten points back of top-of-the-table Sydney FC – who drew 0-0 with Perth Glory earlier in the day – and just four points clear third-placed Wellington Phoenix, who have two games in hand.

For the Wanderers, the point means they sit two points adrift of sixth-placed Western United at the conclusion of round 23, with a visit from cross-town foes Sydney FC to look forward to next week.

Teasingly given what was to come, the Wanderers' opener was a sublime piece of play.

Collecting the ball on the left flank, Red and Black captain Mitch Duke launched a pinpoint cross-field ball to the feet of Russel, who’s deft first-time touch went to Nicolai Muller.

Continuing his run, the 20-year-old was then in a perfect position receive the German's return ball and fire inside the near post to record his first-ever A-League goal.

“We give all the players freedom to play football,” Wanderers Coach Jean-Paul de Marigny said post-game.

“The more that [Tate] gets to experience that… I just love it when he’s positive and he’s aggressive. He’s got a lot of qualities and he’s progressing really well. I think he’s come a long way from 18 months ago and it’s really pleasing on the eyes.”

The Wanderers’ defender’s night quickly turned sour, though, when he brought down City winger Craig Noone inside the penalty area after Daniel Lopar parried away a deflected shot from Nathaniel Atkinson.

Replays seemed to show that the youngster was perhaps unlucky to have drawn referee Kate Jacewicz ire, but there wasn’t enough evidence to allow the VAR to overturn the decision before Maclaren fired home from the spot for his 15th goal of the season.

“We had the possession, especially in the first half, but today our tactical decision making was too slow,” City coach Erick Mombaerts said post-game.

“Maybe one or two touches [too many] and so our creativity maybe was not enough to break this defensive block.

“When you face a defensive block like that our combined movement has to be accurate. We need to combine better in the small areas.”

With chances few and far between in what was a frustratingly dour night at AAMI Park, the Wanderers should have taken the lead in the 69th minute – only for Simon Cox to be outhustled at the crucial moment.

Nipping in to intercept an attempted header back to Tom Glover by Curtis Good after the latter was sold into trouble by a woeful attempted back pass from Nathaniel Atkinson, Cox’s subsequent side-footed effort was partially saved by Glover.

The ball sill trickling to the goal line, all the Irish international needed to do to win the game was sprint after it and slide it over the line but he was beaten by a rapidly backtracking Good, who slid across with a tackle on the goal line to knock it to a clearing Harrison Delbridge.  

Now or ever for Western Sydney?

Finding themselves two points back of the top-six at the conclusion of Saturday evening’s play, their next three figures now loom as season-defining for de Marigny’s side.

After seemingly righting the ship and getting the Wanderers back into finals contention in his first weeks as an interim, highlighted by a derby win over Sydney FC, de Marigny now faces a murderers row of opponents as he looks to keep his side there.

Sydney, hungry for retribution, will pay a visit to Bankwest Stadium next week, before the Red and Black return to Victoria to take on Western United in Ballarat and then are paid a visit by Perth Glory.

With the race for finals football so tight, an inability to continue to pick up points over the next few weeks – especially against top-six rivals United – could prove potentially disastrous for Wanderers.

“Fair to say every game is like that,” the Wanderers coach said when asked if the three-game run was season-defining.

“It was the same question that we had three weeks ago and the four weeks before that.

“It’s a tight competition. We’re about getting the process right and getting better at what we’re trying to do.

“I think that there’s one area that we can do better in, that’s being able to retain the ball for longer periods of time. That’s something that we’ll continue to work on.

“In terms of where we’re going and what’ we’re trying to do at the football club, that’s obviously one of our goals, get into finals football. That’s what we’ll continue to do.”

C’mon… do something.

Saturday night’s contest was not a good game of football on the eyes.

Both City and the Wanderers displayed a frustrating lack of speed and incisiveness on and off the ball in their attacking movements throughout the 90 minutes; Russell’s 20th minute goal the lone moment of verve.

City’s goal arrived from the penalty spot after a contentious decision, while Wanderers chance to win it through Cox’s second-half chance provided a maddening combination of City error and Wanderer sloth.

Vast swathes of the contest took place with nary a half decent attacking moment presenting itself, City’s movement especially leaving something to be desired as they attempted to break down the Wanderers defensive shape.

“I think the boys did extremely well,” de Marigny said.

“Tactically we showed unbelievable discipline within our structure. We obviously were waiting for moments, we talked about that.

“We had some good moments there, unfortunately, it didn’t happen for us but I’m very proud of the boys and the way they applied themselves throughout the whole game was very pleasing for us.

“It was a great reaction from [Wanderers 3-1 loss to Brisbane last week].”

But whereas Wanderers approach was more by design, City’s performance was definitely not what Mombaerts had in mind when he arrived at the ground.

“It wasn’t a normal week for us,” the Frenchman said.

“I know that because we played on Sunday, we had a long trip and had to recover.

“Our players are not fit enough today. But it’s also like that, the impression is not fit enough and tactical decision making took too long today. One-touch too much today.”

So long, far well?

The contest might not have been the best to watch for the fans but, unfortunately, it might be the last chance they get to watch a game for quite a while.

With the Australian Government’s announcement that gatherings of 500 people or more should be cancelled, next week’s A-League and W-League Grand Final fixtures are almost certain to be played behind closed doors.

However, Saturday afternoon’s proclamation by the New Zealand Government that any individual entering New Zealand – barring those from Pacific nations – would have to undergo a mandatory 14-day period of self-isolation has thrown the A-League’s immediate future into a state of flux.

“As it stands, it will be impossible for any future Hyundai A-League Season 2019/20 games to be held in New Zealand, pending another Government review in 16 days,” a Phoenix statement said.

“The club has been making preparations for this eventuality and will make further announcements in due course. The club will continue to work closely with the League, FFA, New Zealand Government and its partners as we work through this challenging time.”

As it stands, the ‘Nix are scheduled to play away games against Sydney FC and Newcastle Jets in the coming weeks and would not be able to return home without undergoing a mandatory quarantine. Star attacker Ulises Dávila had been set to fly back to Mexico for the birth of his first child following the Jets encounter.  

Their remains the possibility that the Kiwi club may relocate to Australia, but with the New Zealand Government not set to be reviewed for 16 days – the possibility that the A-League will be suspended has become a distinct possibility.

“I don’t know,” Mombaerts said on the situation. “I just, in my situation I just have to let the government and all the people that have this responsibility to make the right decision. I don’t know enough about the situation in Australia.”