Perth Glory coach Tony Popovic says watching his son Kristian score the equaliser in his team's 1-1 A-League draw with Western United was a "special" and "unique" moment.
Kristian Popovic headed home in the 76th minute of the clash at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday to salvage a point for the Glory with his first A-League goal.
"I don't think you can plan for that because first of all it's unique that you're coaching your son at this level. That's unique in itself," Popovic said.
"And then when he comes on, he scores. So that's also unique.
"So that, I think that moment is a special moment, when you celebrate, that's a little bit more - it's your son.
"But also, the key aspect is it was such an important goal for us to get back in and silence them a little bit and you could see after that we started creating opportunities again and started getting back in the game. So it was a really important time."
Kristian, 18, got on the end of an excellent ball from midfielder Neil Kilkenny and directed a powerful header past United goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
"It was a great delivery, Kristian made a late run, so I'm sure he'll remember that moment for a long time," Popovic said.
"But good, he's a good young player that's been with us this season, he's done the whole pre-season with the team.
"He deserves his opportunity, he doesn't surprise us the way he's playing. So everyone at the club is delighted for him and obviously it was a really important time for us to get back in the game and then after that it could have went either way."
Australian Associated Press
