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Western Sydney Wanderers FC
1
Match Complete
Wellington Phoenix
0
| K. Yeboah |  | 73' | ||
| 65' |  | L. DeVere | ||
| 62' |  | C. Devlin | ||
| 55' | | L. DeVere | ||
| 21' | | L. Fenton | ||
| J. O'Doherty | | 19' |
| 13 | Shots | 6 | ||
| 3 | On Target | 1 | ||
| 20 | Fouls | 12 | ||
| 2 | Corners | 6 | ||
| 0 | Offsides | 0 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
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The Western Sydney Wanderers need a win to keep their slim finals chances alive when they take on the high flying Wellington Phoenix at Bankwest Stadium from 7:30pm (AEST). Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match.
Both sides are coming off draws, but the longer form guide is much more complimentary to the Phoenix. Jean-Paul de Marigny’s Wanderers haven’t won in four, and just cannot keep a clean sheet. They needed a late strike from English import Simon Cox to salvage a point against bottom side the Mariners last time out, in an entertaining match where both sides found the woodwork.
The Phoenix also punched out a draw against finals hopeful Adelaide United, but it should have delivered so much more. At times Wellington peppered Paul Izzo in the Adelaide goal and had Izzo and their own profligate finishing to blame for not getting full value out of the game.
It is remarkable that Ufuk Talay, in his first A-League season, is having such a positive impact. He took over a Mark Rudan side that was decimated by exits – namely key playmakers Roy Krishna and Sarpreet Singh – but Talay has found some gems hidden in other A-League and squads abroad to more than replace them.
Reno Piscopo, Josh Sotirio and Brandon Wilson are all highly regarded youngsters who hadn’t quite found their groove at this level. With those players added, Talay has somehow found a level above Rudan’s iteration of the Phoenix, and he must surely be favourite for Manager of the Year.
With games being churned out every couple of days now until the end of the season, teams will have to rotate their squads to strike the right mixture of fitness and ability. Cox, who joined the Wanderers in January, is one player we should be seeing more of in the coming fixures. Cox came on against the Mariners and scored the equaliser to build his confidence. The Wanderers are desperate for a touch of class and creativity, and are hoping the Englishman is their man in an otherwise inexperienced midfield.
Prediction
Predicting anything other than a Phoenix victory would be difficult to defend. Wellington are looking like the best of the rest, and they should beat bottom-half sides like the Wanderers if they want to keep it that way. The Wanderers need to go for this though, and we could see goals.
Wellington Phoenix 2-1.
Venue: Bankwest Stadium
Kick-off: 7:30pm (AEST)
TV: Fox Sports
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, My Footall Live
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