Stein Huysegems and Tyler Boyd have combined to sink Western Sydney Wanderers’ undefeated home record and continue Wellington Phoenix’s remarkable A-League mid-season resurgence.
The Phoenix scored a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Wanderers at Pirtek Stadium on Wednesday with Huysegems scoring two goals and Boyd one.
The Phoenix duo put on an attacking clinic after the home side had gone up 1-0 in the 62nd minute through Mark Bridge after great lead-up work from Shinji Ono and Youssouf Hersi.
But Boyd struck back in the 68th minute before Huysegems’ brace came in the 78th and 83rd minutes, the second coming with a stunning backheel.
The win is the third straight for the Phoenix after previously enduring a winless start to the season.
The loss was the Wanderers’ first at home since January 6 last year.
With Ono and Tomi Yuric back and Michael Beauchamp wearing the captain’s armband the Wanderers controlled much of the contest until after their first goal.
The hosts had the better of the play in the first half and probably should have gone into the break ahead.
A Juric header flew over the bar in the 14th minute after he was incorrectly ruled offside, before a powerful shot from Aaron Mooy was deflected wide by Phoenix goalkeeper Glenn Moss.
Then, in the final minute of time in the opening half, an Ono header hit the bar.
With Hersi constantly threatening the Phoenix defence after the break, the Wanderers always looked likely to score and it was a well deserved lead when they went 1-0 up.
But then the game turned on its head as Boyd and Huysgems dominated to secure the upset win for the Phoenix to give Wanderers coach Tony Popovic plenty to ponder in the New Year.
The win has lifted the Phoenix to eighth on the A-League ladder, while the Wanderers remain second, four points behind Brisbane and four points ahead of Melbourne Victory who both have a game in hand.
Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick said he was always confident his side could turn their season around.
“We have been playing some good football and we can score goals … we showed that tonight,” he said.
“I felt this turnaround coming. The boys have never lost faith.
“The law of averages says it has to come good.”
Wanderers’ boss Tony Popovic said the Phoenix made his side pay for their mistakes late in the game.
“They scored a good equaliser but I was comfortable at 1-1,” he said.
“But after that I felt we tried too hard to push the issue and they punished us for our mistakes and credit goes to them for that.”
striker
Guest
Merrick doesn't get the credit he deserves he done a great job at victory and now starting to produce with Wellington.
Allan
Guest
Yes I was there, I heard the RBB still singing after the full time whistle - anyone who saw the 20 or so people leaving before full time obviously didn't see the RBB. They made up for a tired looking WSW team that's for sure.
AZ_RBB
Guest
He out-coached Poppa in Round 2 as well. Actually the two games followed a fairly similar pattern of WSW being the slightly more productive team in the first half then Nix figuring them out by half time and dominating the second half.
AZ_RBB
Guest
usually the chanting stops after full time doesnt it? anyways, i bring it up because the RBB copped a lot of heckling from fans of other teams last night for sounding so upbeat after a thrashing.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Az, rbb always stays behind singing/playing until the players have gone around, win lose or draw. Last night was no exception!
Stevo
Guest
Merrick is best A-league coach at the moment. No Ifill, no Carlos and with youth puts one over Popo.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Did anyone stay back after full time? Apparently the RBB kept chanting and dancing for a while after full time. If so, good on them. Makes me feel like a bad fan for leaving straight away haha. I took a friend for his first ever football match last night. He is a very passionate Eels fan with a passing interest in football. He said he was absolutely blown away by the atmosphere and the active support. I had to apologise profusely for the team's performance. He said after that experience, he's almost more likely to get a WSW membership than an Eels one. Gives me confidence that even if such results continue, the crowds shouldn't drop much at all.
Ian
Guest
You mean the Premiership? Being a Roar fan I can't make that call in January.
Tim Fentz
Guest
Awesome game from the boys in black (and yellow). A great belated nixmas present!
Bondy
Guest
Popovic's just signed most of those players to long term deals ? . A great win for the Phoenix I'd suggest that's the Championship to the Brisbane Roar now. .
ciudadmarron
Guest
Agreed about pretty much everything there AZ, the Bridge D'Apuzzo thing just doesn't quite click. I think it's because D'Appuzzo doesn't have the same sort of control the Polenz has going forward, so Polenz can get it to Hersi more often than not; and on top of that Bridge's style is a lot more direct than Hersi's so it doesn't look as intricate or what have you either. Cole clearly gets up for the derbies too. ANyway as you said somewhere bring on the break, they can hunker down and come out with vigour for the derby.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Hopefully this doesn't become a pattern once ACL starts and "3 games in 10 days" becomes the norm.
clayts
Guest
Agree. I thought Wanderers were pretty slack for almost the entire game. I reckon they've been like that for a while now. Roar went through a patch like that too just recently
AZ_RBB
Guest
I don't want D'apuzzo out, I just want him to try a different style. I remember reading he has made the most number of successful tackles in the league this season. So there's no doubt over his talent and value. But I would like to see him complete turnovers more often. Not an easy task, but he seemed to be just going through the motions last night. Also I sometimes find it hard to believe that D'apuzzo and Bridge have been playing together for over a season now. They seem to be on different wavelengths. Maybe it just looks bad cos Polenz and Hersi have such great chemistry? I really like Cole. He is versatile and never disappoints. He might not have the best touch or much pace but in a Derby those things can often go out the window anyways. Will be watching tonight's encounter very closely!
ciudadmarron
Guest
The trouble with d'appuzo is who else do you put there? He got up and helped a bit more successfully than normal I thought although I haven't see the replay yet. Polenz is now suspended for next match it appears which means Cole must go in for him. No poljak and mooy off form probably made a difference to la rocca's performance also.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Johan it's quite simple. How do people get to positions of power with such little ability to do a little reading or comprehend facts repeated in these threads ad nauseum? 16000 memberships mean that there are about 3000 tickets up for sale for each match (yes capacity is over 20000 but that higher number is including corporate boxes). Ticketek seem to enjoy releasing them in dribs and drabs at the moment on an ad hoc basis meaning there is no definite time people can just buy all the remaining tickets. And not every member can show for every single game. While there was a buyback scheme mooted, it appears to have been too difiicult to implement "on the run".So unlike FC games where you can just walk up to the gate and buy a ticket because there is always room, Wanderers don't get a walk up crowd either. I think the crowd average this season is pretty good all things considered, and I believe it would be higher with increased capacity (and possibly with working turnstyles... the club recently said there were a couple of dodgy ones which should have been rectified now).
Tim Dawson
Guest
great call mate, hope you had a merry nixmas
Johan
Guest
Desperately low crowd. 14500 and there are clamours that parra stadium isn't big enough! Pull the other one!!
jmac
Guest
Go you Nix! merry nixmas
AZ_RBB
Guest
Woeful! First half was some of the slowest football I have ever watched. WSW created a couple of great chances but the rest of the half was borderline depressing. Wellington out-pressed us throughout the game and even their passing game was superior. Second half I was happy with in bits and pieces but as the scoreline shows, we were completely outplayed. It was the worst I have ever seen Mooy play and although it would be hard to blame Beauchamp for the 3 goals, the back 4 looked tired and hardly convincing. I would like to see D'apuzzo, win possession rather than just boot it out. La Rocca played well for the first hour then fell asleep. With a 10 day break before the Derby, this is a well-timed wake up call. Also, hats off to the RBB. They hardly missed a beat even as Wellington put goal after goal passed us. I felt like running down and joining them as things got dire. Bring on the Derby!!