Western Sydney have come crashing back to earth after suffering a shock 1-0 A-League Men loss to a depleted Perth Glory at Macedonia Park.
The Wanderers entered Friday night's match full of confidence after thumping Macarthur 4-0 last week, but Glory youngster Keegan Jelacic's 59th-minute strike proved the difference.
The result lifted Glory level on points with struggling Melbourne Victory, but they remain last on goal difference.
The second-placed Wanderers could be leapfrogged by Central Coast or Adelaide on Saturday.
Glory were missing four key players from the starting roster.
Veteran goalkeeper Liam Reddy was demoted to the bench in favour of Cameron Cook, while there was no place in the squad at all for regular starters Mark Beevers and Ryan Williams.
Irish midfielder Aaron McEneff missed a second straight match with a foot injury that could end up sidelining him for two months.
Glory dominated for much of the first half with the aid of a strong breeze.
Perth fired off 10 shots to four, had 55 per cent possession, and won 11 corners to the Wanderers' one.
But all of those efforts counted for nothing after Lawrence Thomas pulled off a series of strong saves in the first half.
A diving Thomas kept out a low drive from Mustafa Amini in the 35th minute, and he also palmed away long-range rockets from Salim Khelifi and Jack Clisby just before the break.
Chances were few and far between for the Wanderers, with Glory goalkeeper Cook pulling off two sharp saves early to deny the visitors.
Both sides suffered an injury blow in the first half, with Wanderers striker Kusini Yengi limping off in the 39th minute, and Khelifi following suit a few minutes later.
The pivotal moment came in the 59th minute when Glory substitute David Williams skipped past two defenders in the box before squeezing the ball to Jelacic, whose left-foot strike went in off the post.
It was Jelacic's first goal in the ALM in just his eighth appearance.
The Wanderers pushed hard for a late equaliser, but Cook was on hand each time to thwart them.
