Perth Glory will collect the wooden spoon for the second time in the space of three years after sinking to a 4-3 A-League Men loss to Western United at HBF Park.
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Glory entered Sunday's match under huge pressure to rebound following last week's record 8-0 loss to Melbourne City.
The demons from that horror show looked to have resurfaced when Matthew Grimaldi struck for United in the fourth minute.
But a double from Adam Taggart - which lifted the Glory striker to the top of the ALM's golden-boot standings with 19 goals - put Perth on track for victory.
Glory thought they had gone 3-1 up in the 62nd minute when David Williams stripped his opponent of the ball and scored.
But Williams was left fuming when referee Shane Skinner rubbed out the goal after deeming the Glory striker had committed a foul.
The decision proved a crucial turning point, with goals from Riku Danzaki, Abel Walatee and a late strike from Oliver Lavale putting Western United ahead 4-2.
Williams scored in the third minute of added time to give Glory hope of snatching a draw, but Western United held firm in a nervy final few minutes.
The result means second-from-bottom United are now four points clear of Glory with just one round remaining.
"It's not a good feeling at all," Glory coach Alen Stajcic said of collecting the wooden spoon.
"It's a pretty disappointing and deflating moment.
"I've been in these shoes before (at the Mariners) and know how hard and tough it is to lift the ship up off the ocean floor.
"It's going to take a lot of hard work and leadership and courage to do that."
Western United coach John Aloisi said he hadn't made the battle to avoid finishing bottom a talking point in the lead-up to the match.
"We weren't talking about it at all, we never discussed it," Aloisi said.
"We know where we're at as a club, we know where we're heading, and we're so pleased with the last 10-15 games that we're putting ourselves in a good position for next season.
"We feel like we're building something."
Taggart levelled the scores in the 23rd minute with a powerful header from a pin-point John Koutroumbis cross.
The 30-year-old scored his 19th goal of the season - the most by any Glory player in an A-League campaign - when he capitalised on a defensive brain-fade from Tomoki Imai, who gave up the ball six yards from goal while attempting to fend off an opponent.
Glory players were in disbelief when Williams' goal wasn't allowed in the 62nd minute and Western United rubbed salt into the wound three minutes later when Danzaki levelled with a long-range low drive.
Walatee capitalised on Glory's tiring defence nine minutes later to nail his own low drive, before Lavale sealed the deal in stoppage time after Glory midfielder Giordano Colli was stripped of the ball in defence.
Australian Associated Press
