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03Mar24
Wellington Edge Adelaide By Odd Goal In Five
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix edged Adelaide United 3-2 in front of 7207 fans at Sky Stadium on March 3 to maintain their lead of the Isuzu Ute A-League for another week, although they were made to work hard for this victory by opponents who are struggling in the lower reaches of the league table.
Neither side distinguished themselves as an attacking force during the first ten minutes of play, but the home side started to get on top of proceedings soon afterwards, initially after Tim Payne's eleventh minute free-kick wasn't cleared, the foul having been awarded after David Ball had endured yet another uncompromising tackle - he takes more than his fair share of punishment, this lad, make no mistake!
Bozhidar Kraev latched onto the ball and tried to wriggle his way through United's rearguard, but took on one opponent too many. The ball broke for Scott Wootton, whose drive was deflected narrowly past the far post.
Ben Old was next to shine for Wellington, doing Panagiotis Kikianis for pace in the nineteenth minute before beating Ben Warland in the penalty area, only to find he was fighting a lone battle. Unperturbed, he threatened again sixty seconds later, this time with Kraev in support. But the Bulgarian was closed down by two defenders as Adelaide held firm once more.
Alex Rufer's covering tackle thwarted Harry Van der Saag in the act of shooting in the 24th minute after the striker had caught Finn Surman in possession just outside Wellington's penalty area, to which the home team responded through Ball, whose cross-field pass invited Payne to rampage down the right before unleashing a piledriver from the edge of the penalty area which was blocked by Warland.
After Stefan Mauk had fired narrowly wide following a corner, Wellington took the lead eleven minutes before half-time. Rufer and Payne combined to send Old spearing through United's high defensive line - the Video Assistant Referee determined that he was onside, although it certainly didn't appear to be the case. He duly ran through and fired the ball past James Delianov, who got both hands to the shot, but couldn't prevent the inevitable.
United immediately stepped up the pressure in search of an equaliser. A poor pass by Surman was pounced on by Ryan Kitto, whose cross invited Luka Jovanovic to let fly. Youstin Salas' vital challenge diverted his shot over the bar, while from the resulting corner, Ethan Alagich sent a twenty yard volley flying narrowly past Alex Paulsen's right-hand post.
Still they pressed, Isaias pouncing on a Rufer pass before striding forward and slamming a shot into the stanchion, to which Wellington responded via Old, who picked out Ball with a lovely pass. He held play up well before nutmegging Alagich with a gem of a pass which found Kraev, who somehow steered his shot past the far post when scoring appeared the easier option.
Back came Adelaide, Austin Ayoubi cutting in off the left before unleashing an eighteen-yarder which Paulsen flew to his left to tip over the bar. Mauk's resulting corner picked out Warland, who directed his thumping six yard header straight at the goalkeeper, whose save brought the half to a close.
Wellington spurned a great chance to double their lead inside the first five minutes of the second half. Payne delivered an absolute gem of a free-kick into the danger zone, so good that it bisected Wootton and Kraev, who appeared to duck under the ball with the goal at his mercy.
United instantly countered, Mauk leading the charge as he charged through the middle of the park to latch onto Giuseppe Bovalina's pass. Wootton closed down the threat posed by the rampaging midfielder, but Adelaide were quickly afforded another chance to score when Lukas Kelly-Heald's weak pass to Surman was pounced on by Ayoubi, whose first-time snapshot sizzled over the bar.
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On the hour, Adelaide drew level, Jovanovic drilling home a penalty awarded after Rufer had felled Van der Saag in the area. The scorer gave the Wellington faithful a bit of their own medicine as he celebrated in front of them, the old "hand to the ear" routine not going down well with the vocal locals, whose response was far from classy.
The equaliser was due reward for Adelaide's endeavour, but their cause was certainly aided by Wellington once more adopting this "playing to not lose" approach which is fast becoming a habit they're dropping into - it's definitely not a good one!
Four minutes after levelling the scores, United should have taken the lead. Surman directed a clearance straight to Isaias, who brought Kitto into play. He invited substitute Yaya Dukuly to let fly, a fiercely struck effort which was blocked by Paulsen.
This roused the home team into action, with Kraev battering a shot against the far post in the 67th minute before inviting Payne to have a go with an effort which required two attempts by Delianov to keep it out.
There was no stopping Wellington in the 69th minute, however, substitute Oskar Van Hattum combining with Costa Barbarouses, whose first-time cross picked out Old. His shot was blocked, but the rebound was bundled home from a foot out by Van Hattum, who just beat Ball in the race to get his name on the scoresheet, for the first time in the A-League in the scorer's case.
Buoyed by regaining the advantage on the scoreboard, Wellington this time kept up the pressure on their opponents, who failed to clear a Rufer free-kick in the 77th minute. Surman saw his shot blocked, with Old latching onto the rebound and setting up substitute Sam Sutton, whose shot was turned round the post by Delianov.
From Payne's resulting corner, Wellington extended their lead to 3-1. The fullback delivered the ball to the far post, where Wootton rose high to head the ball back to Old. He sent an eighteen yard Exocet screaming past Delianov, the ball flying in by the far post to mark the home team's first goal from a corner this season.
Mere inches denied Wellington a fourth goal three minutes from time, Van Hattum hammering a shot against the base of the far post after being played in by the charging figure of Old, who was on the hunt for a hat-trick.
Those prospects were put on hold soon after, however, as Adelaide reduced the deficit. Bayern Munich-bound Nestory Inankunda jinked past two opponents on the right before bringing fellow substitute Jonny Yull, Bovalina and Hiroshi Ibusuki into play. They set up Kitto for a shot which was blocked, but the Japanese striker rammed home the rebound to set up a grandstand finish.
United nearly got the late equaliser they sought, with Yull lashing a twenty-five yarder past the post with the last kick of the game, Wellington hanging on for a 3-2 win which was a lot closer than it should have been.
If they constantly played to win during matches, rather than to not lose after setting out their stall, the home team would produce far more convincing performances befitting a team which sits atop the table. In recent times, they've been playing like a team which lacks the confidence and self-belief with which their table-topping position should fill them - not a good sign with the final turn into the home straight on fast approach.
Wellington: Paulsen; Payne, Surman, Wootton, Kelly-Heald (Sutton, 68); Al-Taay (Conchie, 68), Rufer, Salas (Van Hattum, 68); Kraev (Barbarouses, 68), Ball (Hughes, 76), Old
Adelaide: Delianov; Bovalina, Kikianis, Warland (booked, 75), Kitto; Isaias (booked, 54), Mauk, Alagich (Yull, 70); Van der Saag (Irankunda, 66 (booked, 90)), Jovanovic (Ibusuki, 62), Ayoubi (Dukuly, 62)
Referee: Jack Morgan
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