Wellington Phoenix
0
Match Complete
Sydney FC
1
| 84' |  | M. Zullo | ||
| 63' | | B. O'Neill | ||
| 51' | | M. Ninkovic | ||
| C. Sheridan | | 32' | ||
| 25' |  | S. D. Jong |
| 7 | Shots | 13 | ||
| 4 | On Target | 6 | ||
| 15 | Fouls | 12 | ||
| 8 | Corners | 4 | ||
| 0 | Offsides | 0 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
The Wellington Phoenix will host Sydney FC at Westpac Stadium in a mouth-watering A-League clash. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:35pm (AEDT).
On what promises to be a bumper night of football, with three matches in store, the Phoenix and Sky Blues kick things off across the ditch with a potentially, home and away at least, record-breaking crowd in attendance.
To say the Phoenix are rolling is an understatement. Aside from a few late defensive lapses, they had the Victory in their palm of their hand last week and knocked off Sydney FC, Central Coast, Western Sydney and Brisbane in the weeks prior. With a few draws thrown into the recent mix, they have gained 19 of the last 25 points on offer to them.
Some could argue they are the A-League favourites at this point in the season.
Sydney have been far from sluggish. The Sky Blues have won six from their last seven, with only a drubbing at the hands of the Perth Glory blotting their copybook. Prior to that, it was Wellington themselves who last had their measure, with a 3-1 shock win at Jubilee that launched the Phoenix into a terrific run of results.
There should be little in this match tonight and it may come down to a fairly straight forward question. Will the attacking potency of the Phoenix prove too difficult for a sometimes leaky Sydney defence to contain and can Sydney FC find enough goals to keep pace with the recently high scoring visitors?
The Phoenix have nine goals in their last three and Sydney, despite scoring four, have not looked as fluent and impressive up front as they did earlier in the season.
With players sure to be rested, the line-ups will be crucial and changes and new personnel always opens the door for defensive errors to be made. If Sydney make any tonight, expect the Phoenix to pounce.
The Sky Blues will be buoyed by the returns of Milos Ninkovic and Josh Brillante and will need them to fire if they are to escape Wellington with the three points.
Prediction
It looks like a Wellington win tonight. Sydney will have difficulty containing the attacking weapons of the home side. Roy Krishna, David Williams and Sarpreet Singh are providing a headache that has been just a little to hot to handle for all other A-League opposition recently.
Wellington Phoenix 3 – Sydney FC 1.
Catch all the action on The Roar live coverage from 5:35pm (AEDT).
Game information
Where: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
When: Wednesday 23rd January 2019, 5:35pm (AEDT)
TV: Fox Sports
Betting: Wellington Phoenix $2.88, Draw $3.50, Sydney FC $2.40
Wellington Phoenix (squad)
1.Filip Kurto (Gk), 4.Mandi Sosa, 6.Dylan Fox, 7.Cillian Sheridan, 9.Nathan Burns, 11.David Williams, 13.Liberato Cacace, 14.Alex Rufer, 15.Michal Kopzcynski, 16.Louis Fenton, 18.Sarpreet Singh, 19.Tom Doyle, 20.Oliver Sail (Gk), 21.Roy Krishna, 22.Andrew Durante (C), 23.Max Burgess, 27.Steven Taylor
Sydney FC (squad)
1.Andrew Redmayne (Gk), 2.Aaron Calver, 3.Ben Warland, 4.Alex Wilkinson, 6.Josh Brillante, 7.Michael Zullo, 8.Paulo Retre, 9.Adam Le Fondre, 10.Milos Ninkovic, 11.Daniel De Silva, 13.Brandon O’Neill, 14.Alex Brosque (C), 17.Anthony Caceres, 20.Alex Cisak (Gk), 21.Charles Lokoli-Ngoy, 22.Siem De Jong, 24.Cam Devlin, 31.Luke Ivanovic
Jack George
Roar Guru
Yess
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Wellington Phoenix have finally been defeated after Sydney FC travelled to Westpac Stadium and took all three points. In the end it was a single goal that decided the match yet two controversial penalty decisions, one where Sydney were denied the most obvious of hand balls and the second where they appeared to have been fortunate to receive a spot kick after a dubious Steven Taylor fall, will dominate the post match discussion. Mark Rudan left three of his stars on the bench to start the match and the Phoenix looked nothing like the side that has remained undefeated since the 24th of November. Sydney's win may come at a cost with what appears to be a serious injury to Siem De Jong, that occurred in the scoring of the only goal of the game. All in all, the match confirmed that these two teams will be in the hunt come semi-final time. Tonight, it is Sydney with the bragging rights and Wellington will rue a dominant second-half where they could and should have snatched at least a point. Final Score Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Full-Time Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
90+3 Wellington make space down the left. Is there a last chance? Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
90+2 Sydney winding down time very well here. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
90+1 Four minutes of added time to come. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
90' le Fondre off and Retre on for the Sky Blues. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
89' Krishna attacks on the right and Sydney earn a goal kick. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Come on the Nix!
Stuart Thomas
Expert
88' De Silva turns it over and Wellington will come back on the attack. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
88' Now Sydney come back on the attack. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
84'
Stuart Thomas
Expert
86' I am astonished. A poor penalty from Krishna. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Noooooooooooooooooooo.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
86' SAVED by Redmayne!!!!!! Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
85' The ball blew away from the spot.......only in Wellington. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
85' Brosque is booked! Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
85' Singh to take. Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
84' It is a penalty to the Phoenix!!!!!! Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1
Stuart Thomas
Expert
83' Still waiting on the final decision!!!!! Wellington Phoenix 0 Sydney FC 1