Western Sydney Wanderers have progressed to the Grand Final of the A-League at the expense of Central Coast Mariners.
© Getty Images
Tony Popovic's side won the semi-final encounter 2-0 at the Pirtek Stadium in Parramatta on Saturday to reach the final for the second year in a row.
The first goal of the contest came just past the half-hour mark through Youssouf Hersi.
Mariners goalkeeper Liam Reddy kept out Mark Bridge's shot, but the ball fell to Brendon Santalab, whose cross was tapped in by Hersi.
The Wanderers continued to maintain their pressure for the rest of the first half, but failed to make further inroads.
However, they could have conceded the equaliser nine minutes into the second half had Bernie Ibini-Isei been able to keep his shot on target from 20 yards with Ante Covic off his line.
Then midway through the second half Hersi could have scored his second goal of the match when Labinot Haliti found him with a good cross, but the 31-year-old midfielder's header went wide.
Iacopo La Rocca did make it 2-0 for Wanderers and wrapped up the victory nine minutes from time.
Shinji Ono was the architect of the goal as he started the move that culminated in La Rocca getting the ball past Reddy.
Subhankar Mondal
