Another sumptuous evening of football was found across the ditch this evening as the Wellington Phoenix hosted the struggling Western Sydney Wanderers.
Coming into the match as the form side of the league, the Nix were relishing a home tie following their impressive performance against Sydney FC the week previous.
The home side didn’t disappoint in terms of their style of football, as Nathan Burns peppered the hands of Ante Covic with a well hit strike just five minutes in.
The Wanderers, still winless in the league this season, struggled significantly with the pace of the Phoenix attack, particularly that of the impressive Roy Krishna.
The Fijian, who had scored four goals prior to this match, won a penalty against 17-year-old fullback Daniel Alessi, who was penalised for a very innocuous challenge inside the box. Krishna stood tall at his run up for the penalty, and even after seeing his effort saved well by Covic, the speedy winger reacted fastest to smash home the rebound.
The Wanderers responded admirably, with much of their attacking purpose being driven by the expertise of Socceroo Tomi Juric, who’s 18th minute effort slid wide following a precise knockdown from Nikita Rukavytsya.
As the half hour mark passed, the Wanderers stepped it up another notch, and Brendan Hamill’s header from a set piece would’ve been the equaliser had it been directed either side of Glenn Moss. Juric then had another gilt-edged chance to equalise for the visitors, but his header flashed wide of the post as half-time approached.
However, that was not until the Phoenix sprung back into life and nearly produced one of the goals of the season. After an oddly coherent lead up, including two ‘scorpion kick’ passes, Roy Krishna’s half-volley was blocked expertly again by Covic.
The end-to-end stuff did not cease alongside the first half, as we were again treated to some excellent football after the break.
Just five minutes in, Juric was slid in expertly from midfield, only to see himself denied once again at the hands of the New Zealand international, Moss.
From there, the profligacy curse instead fell upon the star striker of the Phoenix, Nathan Burns. It must have been hellish for coach Ernie Merrick and Ange Postecoglou alike to see Burns denied on so many occasions, particularly given his form in recent weeks.
First, after seeing an edge-of-the-box strike saved, Burns was then slid in and denied at the near post, before shanking a one-on-one over the bar, all in the space of 10 minutes.
Burns was involved again as he provided a one-two for Louis Fenton, finding Jeremy Brockie who could only curl the ball over the bar. While the end-to-end entertainment continued, it became evermore inevitable that the Phoenix would sneak through this one.
There was one minor hiccup as substitute Jaushua Sotirio found himself played onside by a fatigued Wellington defence. Luckily for them, Glenn Moss was on point once again.
Ultimately it was the home side’s day as the Wanderers board yet another plane home this evening, wondering when they will get their rub of the green. They face a resurgent Central Coast on New Year’s Day, but will have to make do without Tomi Juric as he joins the Socceroos for the Asian Cup.
Wellington have a much tougher prospect on their hands, travelling to second-placed Adelaide United on New Year’s Eve.
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