Western United are slow and steady but winning the A-League Men race

“One-nil, to the Arsenal. One-nil, to the Arsenal.” It is perhaps unthinkable to those reared on Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles but, during the early ’90s, this was the defining ethos of the Gunners; belted out by supporters as George Graham’s side attempted to bore opponents to death before, up the other end, Ian Wright could pop up to provide a winner.

These days, nobody is going to be confusing Jamie Young for David Seaman or or Léo Lacroix for Tony Adams, and we can only hope John Aloisi’s tenure in Melbourne’s west does not end in a similar fashion to Graham’s in north London. However, almost 30 years on from that chant ringing out over Highbury, A-League Men leaders Western United are performing their own little tribute to that side: riding a wave of one-goal victories to the top of the table and, potentially, league glory.

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A bit fitting, really, given that some recounts about Arsenal’s adoption of the chant claim it was inspired by a rendition of the Pet Shop Boys’ version of Go West at half-time during a European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain – the same song which has been a regular part of United’s rotation since they entered the competition in 2019-20.

Active supporters in the ‘Western Service Crew’ have not adopted the Gunners’ mocking chant as their own just yet but, across their opening 14 games of the 2021-22 ALM season, Aloisi’s side have already equalled the record number of regular-season 1-0 wins recorded by a team in national league history. Their new bedfellows – Perth Glory’s 1999-2000 National Soccer League side – did that in a 34-game campaign. They have already better their wins