When Jordan Lauton scored one of the most spectacular bicycle kicks the A-League has ever seen, he probably didn’t think it wouldn’t even be Western United’s most thrilling finish of the week.
Is there something in the water in Tarneit?
Less than a week after scoring two stoppage-time goals to come from behind and down Perth Glory 3-2 over in the west – when scholarship midfielder Lauton got himself sent off for removing his jersey after that outrageous bicycle winner – Western United only went and did it again.
Maybe Lauton had the right idea all along, given that he served his one-game suspension during Western United’s tame 2-0 midweek defeat to the kids from Melbourne City.
Yet few could have predicted John Aloisi’s men would return to the same AAMI Park venue and pull off one of the comebacks of the season in Friday night’s crazy 4-3 win over Melbourne Victory.
A draw looked like a fair result when the mercurial Noah Botic rose to head home a pinpoint Angus Thurgate corner in the first minute of stoppage time.
And we got an insight into coach John Aloisi’s tactical acumen when he revealed on the post-game Paramount+ coverage that he left the hitherto peripheral Botic on the park because he believed his other substitutes would create chances for the striker.
Hiroshi Ibusuki (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
But it was talismanic Japanese veteran Hiroshi Ibusuki who did the bulk of the damage as he scored Western United’s first and final goal in what was a Herculean personal performance.
The much-travelled ex-Japan youth international copped a bit of social media stick when he first signed for former side Adelaide United on the back of zero goals in 14 games for Shimizu S-Pulse.
But 35 goals into his A-League career and it’s clear Ibusuki is one of the most effective strikers in the league.
He thought he’d drawn Western United level in the 81st minute of a pulsating clash at AAMI Park, only for a flying Jack Duncan to pull off a sprawling one-handed save.
Duncan was hardly to blame for Western United’s stunning comeback, but it’ll be interesting to see how quickly Victory integrate incoming goalkeeper Mitch Langerak into their starting side.
The same goes for how long they stick with interim coach Arthur Diles, who sounds like he’s got the job for the remainder of the season.
Victory are stone-cold broke – so all the complaints from their demanding fan base about playing styles and the lack of wins under Diles aren’t going to land them a new coach any time soon.
And as Western United proved when they won the championship from third place back in 2022, you only need to sneak into the finals to do some damage.
Victory will need to reel in arch-rivals Sydney FC first, after the Sky Blues saw off a stubborn Central Coast Mariners 4-1 at Allianz Stadium on the back of their second hat-trick in two games.
It was English import Joe Lolley who registered the first as Sydney FC eased to a 3-0 win over Perth Glory in midweek, but it was Adrian Segecic who came off the bench to devastating effect on Saturday night.
The diminutive attacker had already screwed one good chance wide after coming off the bench in the 55th minute, but he found his scoring boots to give the Sky Blues the lead after running on to a perfectly weighted pass from Anthony Caceres.
And Segecic’s chipped finish following a flick from Patrick Wood – who, if the rumours are correct, is headed to Perth Glory on loan – was even better.
But it was an absolute piledriver to bring up his hat-trick that reminded everyone of why Sydney FC brought Segecic back from his loan spell at Dutch club Dordrecht.
Macarthur eased to an entertaining 3-1 win over Newcastle Jets on Sunday, with the top six now starting to take shape.
But it’s Western United making most of the headlines.
They’re the cardiac kings of the A-League Men – lead by an indomitable front man from the Far East.