A 10-man Western Sydney side has held on for a valuable A-League Men victory, defeating Western United 1-0 at North Hobart Oval.
The Wanderers found the back of the net just after the half hour on Saturday thanks to Lachlan Brook before defender Aidan Simmons was expelled on 65 minutes.
United pushed for an equaliser but failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage, with the away side holding on for maximum points.
Western’s Daniel Penha tested Daniel Margush early with a shot from long range, but the Wanderers goalkeeper was equal to the task and parried it away.
Close to the quarter hour, Western Sydney midfielder Oscar Priestman drove down the left to the byline and dinked the ball into the danger area.
Marcus Antonsson met the cross on the edge of the six-yard area and headed over.
John Aloisi’s men then had a series of great chances to break the deadlock.
On 21 minutes, Michael Ruhs broke free but fired straight into Margush from eight metres and Penha thread through a pass for Noah Botic who cut back for Ruhs, but he shot over from 10 metres.
Western United were made to rue their missed opportunities on 35 minutes when Nicholas Milanovic beat his opponent on the left wing before crossing to the penalty spot. Antonsson’s deft touch perfectly set up Brook, who drilled home first time to leave Tom Heward-Belle with no chance.
Aidan Simmons whipped in a delightful cross for Antonsson five minutes into the second half, but the Swedish striker’s header went agonisingly wide.
And 15 minutes later, the Wanderers were reduced to 10 men when Simmons was shown a straight red for a crunching tackle on Kane Vidmar.
Western United threw everything at Marko Rudan’s side in search of an equaliser, but while dominating the final 25 minutes they couldn’t find a breakthrough.
In the closing minutes, Ben Garuccio forced Margush into another fine save, shooting from just inside the area after the Wanderers failed to clear a cross. The left-foot effort was blasted with power, but again Margush stood tall.