A resurgent Wellington Phoenix have notched a third straight A-League Men’s win to bring newly crowned FFA Cup winners Melbourne Victory back down to earth in Wollongong.
A 74th-minute goal from Reno Piscopo at WIN Stadium secured a 1-0 win for seventh-placed Wellington, who moved within one point of the top six after their first clean sheet of the ALM campaign.
Victory, who were backing up four nights after their cup win, stayed fourth.
It was their first defeat in their last ten league and cup games and only their second from 15 this season, but have now gone three ALM games without a win.
The goal came from a defensive error by Jason Davidson, who gave the ball away to David Ball who charged into the area to set up Piscopo for his second goal in as many games.
Piscopo’s decider came against the run of play following Victory’s best spell of the game.
Phoenix goalkeeper Oliver Sail made three good saves in six minutes to deny Ben Folami, Josh Brillante and Marco Rojas, who a few minutes earlier came off the bench to make his 100th appearance for Victory.
Victory coach Tony Popovic felt there were a number of factors why they weren’t at their best.
“I think that’s always going to be a question, everyone waits to see the result to determine whether there was a hangover (FFA Cup win) or not,” Popovic said.
“The conditions were different, we had to travel, it was a heavy pitch, there was a lot of different things today.
“The keeper made some great saves, we should have taken those chances and hit the lead.
“In the second half I don’t recall them having a shot on goal so we were good in that second half, but credit to them we made an error and they punished us, so in the end we got what we deserved.”
Both teams struggled to create clear cut chances in the first half and lacked polish in the final third, though Phoenix looked more dangerous in the latter stages of the half.
“I thought we played very well with the ball and defended solidly as well,” Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay said. “I think we had close to 57 per cent possession and over 600 passes this game.
“It was an arm wrestle, two teams when (they) got behind the ball, very defensive and I thought one goal was going to win this game and I’m glad that we scored that one goal.”
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
The Victory were pathetic last night, that's the only word for it. Nix handled them with absolute ease. As for some of Davidson's passing last night, fair dinkum, he must have the ball away more often than not.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
we had to travel, he said. geez, a Melbourne team had to travel. Now that's not fair. Robbed. But herein we have a problem. Outside dedicated football websites and Ch 10, this match and any match lately, simply has not been mentioned. No one, outside those already with a vested interest, even noticed. What are you doing to sell our game APL?
NoMates
Roar Rookie
This game was a bit of a arm wrestle but wot a match, just the one goal and a much deserved win for the boys. Our bad goal difference will likely be the factor of us moving into the top 6 if we win our next game.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
A lot of the possesion Phoenix had they passed it backwards and around and then launched it long, but because MV were chasing them it did tire them out. Sotirio as a striker provides a great outlet for a team that is being pressed, with good runs into the corners. MV outside of causing a turnover their main attaking outlet was Folami. I dont know about the FFA cup as an excuse for Victory they had an extra days rest. The only time Phoenix had looked really out of a match was against Adelaide on New Years Day . Then people wrote them off , but it was probably an effect of New Years Eve. Adelaide seem to be the beneficiary of the schedule when it comes to the Phoenix, a much fresher Adelaide play them at Jubillee oval of all places.