FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Group A - Norway v Philippines - Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand - July 30, 2023 Philippines coach Alen Stajcic before the match REUTERS/David Rowland/File photo
(Reuters) - Western Sydney Wanderers coach Alen Stajcic admitted he was relieved to see his side pick up their first win of the A-League campaign, with Friday's 4-1 victory over the Newcastle Jets moving the club up in the early season standings.
Wanderers had lost two and drawn one in their opening three matches of the new season but a Nicolas Milanovic hat-trick powered the former Asian champions to a comfortable victory in front of their own fans in Western Sydney Stadium.
"Good to get the monkey off the back," said Stajcic, who took over at the Wanderers' helm in June.
"There was a bit of internal pressure building in terms of the start to the season we've had, so it's good that we finally have seen a bit of the form that I've seen in preseason.
"I saw a lot of these players play to this potential earlier, so it's good that they can now reproduce that when it really matters. Hopefully it's just the start of better things to come."
Milanovic's performance was central to the win, the 22-year-old opening the scoring with a deflected free kick in the 22nd minute before striking from distance 11 minutes later.
He completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining, after Zach Sapsford hit Western Sydney's third and Kosta Grozos pulled one back for Newcastle.
"It's good for him, he works so hard for it on and off the ball," said Stajcic, whose team face cross-city rivals Sydney FC in their first game after the international break.
"Fantastic all round performance from him but you could go through the whole team, to be honest. It gives us a little bit of confidence moving into the derby game."
The win featured a late appearance from the bench by recent signing Juan Mata, with the Spanish World Cup winner filling an unfamiliar defensive midfield slot when he replaced Dylan Scicluna.
"We're still working out, in some respects, who's going to fit where at different times," said Stajcic.
"We've trialled that throughout the week and it worked really well, with Juan playing in that role.
"It was good to see him coming on in that position and add a little bit of extra value for us in that holding midfield role."
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by Tom Hogue)
