It was a nervy first half from both sides, but Western Sydney's Jaushua Sotirio looked lively and saw a lot of the ball, and Oriol Riera couldn't keep his headers down. On the brink of half-time, young gun Keanu Baccus rifled home from distance to open the scoring and give the hosts the lead that they craved. 

Sotirio brought Western Sydney to a two-goal advantage by cooly slotting home the rebound from Ben Kennedy's save of Bruce Kamau's strike. 

Western Sydney Wanderers

Vedran Janjetovic (GK) - 7

Parried away McGlinchey chance. Wasn't overly threatened 

Josh Risdon - 6

Great link-up with Sotirio, but was let down by his final execution. Great volleyed cross in for Riera.

Brendan Hamill - 6

Fairly quiet, solid defending to keep out the Mariners.

Patrick Ziegler - 8

Applied pressure, calm and crucial defending. Rescued the Wanderers on several occasions. 

Tarek Elrich - 5

Fairly quiet night.

Jordan O'Doherty - 6

Was lively and showed bravado to have a crack at goal but didn't effect the scoreline.

Keanu Baccus - 7

Strong work in the midfield. Thunderous shot into the bottom corner to give his side the lead, heading into the sheds. 

Bruce Kamau - 6.5

Found the ball at his feet in the box but wasn't able to do much with it. Hooked a powerful shot that flew over the bar. Assist to Baccus. 

Alex Baumjohann - 8.5

Fantastic balls through to Sotirio into the final third. Found space brilliantly. Beautifully shaped free-kick which found Riera in the box. Great work with Kamau in the lead-up to the goal. 

Unbelievable pass to Sotirio in the second half, awareness was second-to-none. All-round superb individual performance. 

Jaushua Sotirio - 7.5

Massive chance with a low powerful shot that missed the goal by centimetres. Did well under pressure, provided a great build-up and got himself into good positions but needed to be better in his decision-making/final ball. 

Neat finish to pounce on Kennedy's initial save to make it 2-0.

Oriol Riera - 5.5

Two opportunties headed over the bar. Tried to dink Kennedy but the 'keeper was able to get a hand to it. Couldn't make his mark on the scoresheet. 

Subs

Marc Tokich - 6 

Put himself about but couldn't make much of an impact.

Nick Fitzgerald - N/A

Abraham Majok - N/A

 

 

Central Coast Mariners

Ben Kennedy (GK) - 6

Not much could have been done to save Baccus' strike. Crucial and brave saving in the second half. 

Kalifa Cisse - 5

Fairly quiet night.

Antony Golec - 7

Determined and direct when up in attack and was able to cut-out some threatening moments from the Wanderers. Poor defending on Baccus that led to the opener. 

Kye Rowles - 6

Soild defending for the most part.

Jake McGing - 5.5

Good defending in the second half.

Jacob Melling - 5

Showed some determination but couldn't make a mark.

Aiden O'Neill - 5

Didn't do a whole lot.

Mathew Millar - 7

Brilliant run and delighful cross under pressure for McGlinchey. Made great, intense runs and passes forward. Half-shot was deflected. Showed some purpose. 

Michael McGlinchey - 5

Attempted to glance home Millar's cross, but didn't do much else throughout the game.

Connor Pain - 7

Great vision to find Millar in the box for his first chance of the night, and rifled a shot on target that was saved. Good break into the box but his cross for Simon was tame. 

Matt Simon - 4

Quiet night for the forward. 

Subs

Jack Clisby

Went for goal with his free-kick, forced a save out of Janjetovic 

Andrew Hoole - N/A

Mario Shabow - N/A