Perth Glory needed a win over Brisbane, why did Adam Taggart deserve another chance for the Aussies, and where is Adelaide's Nestori Irankunda? This issue and many others are addressed by Marco Monteverdi and Robbie Slater.
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A glorious occasion
Roar fans would disagree, but Perth Glory's comeback from 2-1 down to beat Brisbane 3-2 at HBF Park was exactly what not only the WA club, but also the A-League, needed, after a forgettable few months for the team. . National competition.
In front of loyal Glory fans, who had suffered enough, the Glory team celebrated the club's new ownership with an unforgettable victory.
New owner Ross Pellegra was on the ground to see 'The Shed' vibrate with noise and atmosphere as the Glory extended their unbeaten run to five matches, three of which were wins.
Pellegra seems to have big plans for Glory, and let's hope those plans come to fruition, as the club was once the benchmark of Australian football.
However, Perth's dominance of the AFL has not carried over to the A-League, with the Glory still chasing their first title in the competition that began 19 years ago.
Super League success under Tony Popovic in 2019 was the only A-League honor to date.
Popovic is no longer around, but in Alen Stajic, the Glory have a coach perfectly suited to their humble situation.
Stajic – who was wrongly and unfairly sacked as Matildas coach a few years ago – loves to prove critics wrong, and has injected his team with a never-say-die attitude, as well as a siege mentality when nothing was going right for them and allegedly Promises not kept by APL.
Finally, finding a buyer for Glory will be a huge burden on APL's shoulders.
APL was not in a position to spend millions of dollars to support Perth after wasting $40 million on failed digital arm KeepUp, plus a lot of other money on things yet to be revealed.
Offloading glory will enable the APL to spend money, hopefully wisely, on other areas of need in the A-League, and let's be honest, there are plenty of them.
Taggart is on target
One player who has played a big role for Perth on the field is Glory captain and main striker Adam Taggart, which is good news for the club, as well as Australia coach Graham Arnold.
Taggart (30 years old) has become the forgotten man in the Australian attack, but at his current level, he more than deserves a place in the Australian team for the two World Cup qualifiers next month against Lebanon.
His weekend brace against the Roarers takes his A-League goal tally to 12 goals from just 15 appearances.
It's sometimes easy to forget that Taggart was part of Ange Postecoglou's 2014 World Cup squad.
That was 10 years ago, and since then Taggart has had his ups and downs in terms of form and injuries, but there is no doubt about his class.
He has also matured as a player, embracing the role of captain to glory.
There is no doubt that Arnold will continue to be closely monitored between now and the Australian line-up for next month's two matches.
Taggart's form should certainly see him overtake Melbourne City's Jamie McClaren if Arnold intends to make changes to the squad that crashed out of the AFC Asian Cup quarter-finals.
Golden Boot holder McLaren has gone seven matches without scoring in the A-League. This is the longest period he has played in matches without scoring a goal in the national competition.
It's a barren run that has coincided with mediocre form for City, who were fortunate to escape Saturday night's Melbourne derby against Victory with a goalless draw.
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The mysterious absence
Nestori Irankunda's absence from Adelaide United's squad for the Reds' 2-1 loss to Sydney FC on Saturday evening remains shrouded in mystery.
'Illness' was cited as the reason for the teenager not being in the matchday squad, but The Tackle was told his absence may have been due to reasons related to his behaviour.
This again raises questions about whether Irankunda is ready to move to German giants Bayern Munich at the end of the season.
Many believe the 18-year-old striker would be better off spending two more seasons in the A-League before moving to Europe.
However, with his sale to Bayern finalized, let's hope the Reds continue to work closely with Irankunda as he will need to be in the best frame of mind when he leaves for Germany.
Let's be consistent
The search for consistency with refereeing decisions continues in the A-League.
The Wanderers had every right to question why Mariners fullback Jacob Farrell was not sent off for his foul on Western Sydney striker Marcus Antonsson in the first half of Sunday's match in Gosford.
Farrell got away with only a yellow card despite his nails clearly hitting the top of Antonson's foot.
The Wanderers team had several players sent off this season for similar tackles.
What made matters worse for Western Sydney was that Antonson was forced off for a tackle, while Farrell remained on the park as the Mariners went on to win the game 1-0.
Tour team: (4-2-1-3) Tom Heyward-Bale (Western United); Ryan Grant (Sydney), Tomoki Imai (Western United), Roderick Miranda (Melbourne Victory), Josh Risdon (Western United); Luke Brattan (Sydney FC), Josh Nisbet (Central Coast Mariners); Daniel Benha (Western United); Robert Mack (Sydney), Adam Taggart (Perth Glory), Nikola Mileusnik (Brisbane Roar). Coach: Alen Stajic (Perth Glory).
Tour player: Adam Taggart (Perth Glory)
