What changed for Western Sydney in stunning demolition of A-League champions and why they 'answered a lot of critics'

Western Sydney Wanderers "answered a lot of critics" after humbling A-League champions Auckland FC 5-2 in a statement performance on Saturday. The Wanderers overpowered the titleholders thanks to a devastating four-goal second half as Ufuk Talay's Western Sydney preserved their unbeaten start to the season after last week's 0-0 draw in the Sydney Derby.

Western Sydney overturned a 26th-minute deficit at CommBank Stadium, where Brandon Borrello, Liam Gillion, Nicolas Milanovic, Miguel Di Pizio and Atiya Waraga powered the Wanderers to a crushing victory and their first under new boss Talay. "The brand of football, it has to resonate the region we represent.

They definitely fought in the first round and they fought against a team who is very direct and physical in this game too against Auckland," Wanderers head coach Talay told Paramount+. "The difference from round one to this keep was when we had the ball, we actually looked to play football and we had some good moments from that.

It was a significant statement from the new-look Wanderers, who finished bottom of the A-League last season - the club's first wooden spoon in their history. After the pain of 2025-26, Western Sydney trailed inside the opening 30 minutes but they did not drop their heads.

In fact, the home side stepped it up a notch to blitz the Black Knights. The Wanderers had led 3-1, before two goals in three minutes sealed the deal and their performance earned big praise from Paramount+ analyst Daniel McBreen.

First half, they looked good on the ball without any real bite. Second half, they came out like lions.

They were biting left, right and centre," the former A-League striker said. "They were playing forward, there were runs forward with intent and that really seemed to stun Auckland.

Then they got the ascendency with their two quick goals in the second half. Okay, they gave away another silly goal from a set-piece, which can happen.

But that's where you could've folded and that's where we would've seen Western Sydney last season start to tremble and sit back. They kept playing like lions, they kept making forward runs, they all contributed and in the end, it was a really good performance that answered a lot of the critics from last season."