Macarthur’s Final Hopes Hang by a Thread
Macarthur’s coach, Mile Sterjovski, has admitted that his team needs a miracle to make the A-League Men finals after a surprising 3-1 defeat to Perth Glory on Sunday. The loss came at a critical time, as Melbourne City’s 2-0 victory over Wellington meant that Macarthur could not afford to lose against the struggling Glory in Perth.
However, the Bulls’ performance was far from ideal, with goals from Nicholas Pennington, Gabriel Popovic, and Arion Sulemani helping Glory secure their seventh win of the season. This result left Macarthur four points behind sixth place with just two games remaining in the season.
Given their poor goal difference, Macarthur will need to win their final two matches—against Adelaide and Wellington—and hope that Melbourne City does not pick up more than a single point. The defending champions, Melbourne City, will conclude their campaign with matches against Brisbane and Adelaide.
There is still a slim chance for Macarthur to sneak into the top six if they win their last two games and if fifth-placed Melbourne Victory loses to Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney.
“We have to hope for a miracle where we win our last two and City lose both their games,” Sterjovski said. “So it’s still possible for it to happen. When there’s still a chance to make the six, they don’t need motivation. It’s just the desire to be in the six – everyone wants to play finals football. So as long as it’s mathematically there, we should be motivated for every match.”
A Potential Finals Run
If Macarthur somehow manages to make the finals, Sterjovski is confident they could cause some damage. The team has shown their ability to compete with top sides, having beaten Newcastle and Auckland in the lead-up to Sunday’s loss.
“Definitely,” Sterjovski said. “Once you make the finals, anything can happen. And we definitely have the players who could make a difference on their day. On our day, we’ve proven that we can play well against the top teams. We’ve beaten the top two in the last few weeks. It’s just consistency has kind of killed us this season.”
Perth Glory’s Brighter Future
Perth Glory are almost certain to avoid the wooden spoon for the first time in three years. Their big question now is whether they will re-sign first-year coach Adam Griffiths, who has helped spark more life into the team following the early-season axing of David Zdrilic.
A season-ending foot injury to star recruit Tom Lawrence was a major reason behind the club’s recent eight-match winless run, but Perth achieved victory against Macarthur despite also being without skipper Adam Taggart (adductor).
