Melbourne City continued their ascent of the Isuzu Ute A-League table at AAMI Park on January 3, easily accounting for a Wellington Phoenix side whose performance was something of an embarrassment to New Zealand football.
While City only won by a 2-0 scoreline, that outcome flattered their opponents, who fired just one shot in anger on a day when coach Giancarlo Italiano's general lack of attacking ambition was ruthlessly exposed.
As usual, Wellington set out their stall to play to not lose, but that game plan was shot to smithereens as early as the seventh minute. Seconds after Josh Oluwayemi had pulled off a fine parried save to keep out Callum Talbot's thunderous twenty-five yarder, Arion Sulemani, Aziz Behich and Andreas Kuen combined on the left to set up Harry Politidis, who steered the ball home via the base of the far post from fifteen yards.
And Melbourne continued to dominate proceedings thereafter, to the extent that Wellington consistently struggled simply to make it to the halfway line - they rarely crossed it, with Costa Barbarouses' talents wasted in a side which showed no imagination, their desire to play their way out of defence all too often being thwarted within thirty yards of Oluwayemi's goal.
That City took so long to muster their next shot on goal, despite lionising possession, speaks volumes for their current injury crisis, which was compounded by Kuen's premature departure from the fray with a hamstring problem before twenty minutes had elapsed - he's now the ninth player in the club's treatment room.
Coach Aurelio Vidmar is having to make do and mend at present, but unlike Wellington his charges still endeavour to entertain, and came desperately close to doubling their lead in the 23rd minute. Kuen's replacement, Zane Schreiber, swooped on a stray pass and set up Sulemani for a shot which Oluwayemi required two attempts to keep out.
Former Wellington player Steven Ugarkovic strode through the centre of the park on the half-hour and let fly from twenty-five yards, only to see his shot blocked by Isaac Hughes, while another Oluwayemi save was required to deny Ben Mazzeo six minutes later, Schreiber having intercepted a pass halfway inside Wellington's half to create the opportunity.
Sulemani was again denied by Oluwayemi soon after, while a thirty yard screamer from Ugarkovic cleared the crossbar by barely a yard in first half stoppage time, with referee Shaun Evans' whistle allowing Wellington an opportunity to sort out the mess in which they found themselves, a mess arising from having no alternative game plan once their go-to initiative, playing to not lose, is scuppered by the concession of an early goal.
Tactical tweaks were made, but Melbourne continued to dictate terms, Sulemani failing to take advantage of a Schreiber corner five minutes after play had resumed. The striker fired goalwards in vain four minutes later on receipt of a Nathaniel Atkinson cross, after Wellington had again conceded possession cheaply inside their defensive third.
Another Schreiber corner soon materialised, this one being punched out by Oluwayemi to the edge of the penalty area, where Politidis was lurking with intent. His looping header was grabbed under the bar by Wellington's goalkeeper, who was keeping his side in contention on the scoreboard.
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Two minutes shy of the hour mark, the crowd was stunned by the sight of a Wellington attack! It came out of nowhere, and was largely down to the youthful exuberance of Luke Brooke-Smith, on the occasion of his second appearance for the club. He rampaged downfield before letting fly, only to see his shot - Wellington's first of the match - blocked by Samuel Souprayen.
That scare prompted Melbourne - who only led by a goal, remember - to step things up and endeavour to seal the deal on a contest which was so one-sided it wasn't funny! Twenty minutes from time, Politidis set off on a run which saw him work a one-two with Schreiber, only for the goalscorer's touch to betray him as he looked to score a second from a similar position to that from which he broke the deadlock in the first half.
Soon after, Matt Sheridan blocked a shot from Schreiber after Talbot and Politidis had teamed up to engineer the opening, while fifteen minutes from time, Scott Wootton was on hand to keep City at bay after his initial blunder opened the door for Kavian Rahmani and Atkinson to get in behind the Wellington defence.
Atkinson and Talbot worked a one-two on the right ten minutes from time which saw the midfielder thread a pass through to Rahmani. He invited fellow substitute Medin Memeti to let fly, but the combined efforts of Wootton and Luke Supyk kept City at bay on this occasion.
Not so in the 83rd minute, however, when Melbourne finally confirmed their victory. Ugarkovic fed Rahmani, whose angled pass was flicked on by Mikey Ghossaini to Atkinson, who buried the ball in the roof of the net from an acute angle to clinch the most one-sided 2-0 victory you're ever likely to see.
Soon after, Atkinson sent a shot flashing across the face of goal, while Ugarkovic, Kai Trewin and Talbot all fired wastefully wide of the target in the dying minutes, a period in which Ghossaini squandered a great chance, much to the relief of Oluwayemi, the only Wellington player who can be proud of his efforts on this occasion - frankly, he kept them in it!
Yes, they missed captain Alex Rufer, a victim of glandular fever, but his presence wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference to Wellington's plight, which was probably best summed up by the look of utter bewilderment on Wootton's face in the dying minutes, as he attempted to interpret a tactical note from coach Italiano.
Wellington is badly in need of new initiatives and fresh ideas, and attack-oriented ones at that. The club and their fans don't deserve the utter garbage they are being forced to endure at present, with this performance being a new nadir. Why does one suspect, however, that if a change at the helm isn't forthcoming sooner rather than later, things will only get progressively worse?
Melbourne: Beach; Talbot, Trewin (booked, 61), Souprayen, Behich; Atkinson, Ugarkovic, Kuen (Schreiber, 19 (Ferreyra, 81)); Mazzeo (Rahmani, 64), Sulemani (Memeti, 65), Politidis (Ghossaini, 81)
Wellington: Oluwayemi; Payne (Piper, 89), Sheridan (Walker, 82), Wootton, Hughes, Sutton (Kelly-Heald, 81); Brooke-Smith (Supyk, 46), Retre, Nagasawa (Van Hattum, 46), Ishige; Barbarouses
Referee: Shaun Evans
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