Western United kicked off its 2023-24 campaign in outstanding fashion, defeating Melbourne City 2-0.
Lachie Wales broke the game open with a neat finish in the 60th minute but Melbourne City debutant Tolgay Arslan equalised just two minutes later.
There were chances at both ends but United was awarded a penalty in the final five minutes of normal time, which Noah Botic duly dispatched to send the Green and Black faithful into raptures.
The win is United’s first in the opening round of the season since the Club’s first ever season, getting the season off to a dream start.
Coach John Aloisi named four debutants in his first starting XI of the season, with Tom Heward-Belle starting in goal and Daniel Penha, Angus Thurgate and Riku Danzaki lining up across the midfield.
Botic started up front with Wales alongside and Josh Risdon led the team out as club captain for the first time.
Post game Aloisi said he was extremely happy with Botic’s work, scoring the team’s second goal.
“The first year he (Botic) was here, he played an NPL (National Premier League) game and we had a penalty, and he didn’t take it,” Aloisi said.
“And I said to him, ‘Why didn’t you take that penalty?’, and he said ‘Someone else wanted it’. I said, ‘You’re a striker, you want to score goals, be that player to score those important goals’.
“That’s how much he’s matured and grown. He’s only 21 but he’s still matured in the sense that he believes he’s the one that can lead the line.
“We’ve got players that can help him with that, but he showed good composure when he was fatigued right at the end of the game to win it.
“He didn’t have a lot of opportunities but he kept on believing that his moment would come. It did and he took it.”
Following a difficult spell, Botic joined United in 2021, but it took until the 2022-23 season for him to truly show the competition what he was all about, scoring six goals in 21 games after finally earning consistent opportunities in the senior side.
With Serbian striker Aleksandar Prijovic departing, he looks set to lead the charge up-front in United’s 2023-24 season.
United return to action next Saturday night, when they face Western Sydney Wanderers in Sydney.
