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05Apr21
Melbourne Edge Wellington In Five-Goal Thriller
by Jeremy Ruane
Melbourne City climbed into second place on the A-League table on April 5, edging Wellington Phoenix 3-2 in a thrilling encounter played before 1,343 fans at WIN Stadium, with dozens more chances going begging at both ends of the park.
The first four minutes of this lively clash saw just as many chances created, with Wellington the first to threaten. David Ball saw his first minute shot blocked by Nuno Reis, while a minute later, the defender headed Louis Fenton's dangerous cross over his own bar after the fullback had been picked out by James McGarry.
The resulting Clayton Lewis corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, from where Ulises Davila went close with a dipping twenty yarder. From the subsequent free-kick, City offered their first threat, Curtis Good's sweeping ball to the right flank picking out Andrew Nabbout, who worked a slick one-two with Florin Berengeur before directing a rising drive struck with the outside of this right foot narrowly over.
Things calmed down a fraction during the next six minutes, in which just two chances materialised, both to City. Nathaniel Atkinson - soon to depart with hamstring damage - embarrassed two opponents near the by-line before inviting Rostyn Griffiths to let fly. His rising eighteen-yarder sped narrowly over the bar.
That sixth minute opening was followed three minutes later by some wing wizardry from Craig Noone, who turned Fenton this way and that before picking out the head of James Maclaren. The competition's leading marksman was unable to direct his header on target on this occasion.
Maclaren went close again two minutes later, Tim Payne blocking his shot at point blank range after a quickly taken free-kick invited Noone to get in behind Wellington's defence on City's left.
Oliver Sail plunged to his right soon afterwards to keep out a drive from Noone, while a vital clearance by Joshua Laws prevented City from capitalising on Ben Garuccio's thirteenth minute pullback from the by-line.
City's pressure intensified still further when Nabbout's deflected drive sizzled inches past the far post, and from the resulting corner, Wellington's resistance was finally broken, Good heading home Noone's cross to the far post from close range to give the visitors the goal they fully deserved in the seventeenth minute.
After Atkinson's premature departure, Wellington went close to equalising via a deflected drive from Tomer Hemed which Tom Glover smothered. The goalkeeper promptly sparked a City counter-attack which culminated in one of those "how on earth did he miss that!" moments.
The visitors stormed downfield, Berengeur leading the charge. He slipped the ball into the stride of Noone, who cut in off the left and let fly. His shot was on course to go past the far post when Nabbout darted in to attempt to divert the ball home from a yard out, only to somehow contrive to direct it over the bar while ending up in the net himself!
Cue a spell of Wellington pressure, beginning with a Lewis cross intended for Jaushua Sotirio which Garuccio headed clear in less than textbook fashion. Hemed then sent his twenty-five yard free-kick flying over the bar after Griffiths' clumsy foul on Alex Rufer.
City responded to these threats with some more of their own making, only to fall foul of the immensely performed Payne. His 34th minute block of a Maclaren drive was an outstanding piece of defending, unlike James McGarry's clumsy challenge on Berengeur a minute later, from which City should have been awarded a penalty.
Seven minutes before half-time, City pressed again, with Noone picking out Nabbout on the right. His pass inside invited Berengeur to unleash a low drive which Sail, at full stretch diving to his right, tipped round the post.
The resulting corner saw Garuccio direct a thirty-yarder straight at Sail, who sparked a counter-attack which truly burst into life when Berengeur, who had intercepted a pass, was himself caught in possession by Lewis.
Hemed and Davila swiftly became involved, so, too, Ball, on the left, from where he picked out his Israeli strike partner with a cross. Hemed duly thumped home a twelve yard drive which Glover found too hot to handle - 1-1.
Back came Melbourne, Noone offering menace with a cross intended for Maclaren. Wellington's defence dealt with that delivery, but were undone on the stroke of half-time by the combination of Scott Galloway and Maclaren.
Davila intervened, only for the outstanding Connor Metcalfe to relieve him of the ball and present it to the league's leading marksman. Maclaren duly took it on before lashing a shot across Sail and into the far corner of the net with virtually the last kick of the half to restore Melbourne's lead.
The visitors hit the ground running from the resumption of play, clearly eager to bolster their advantage. Metcalfe led the 48th minute charge downfield before bringing Noone into play and moving forward in anticipation of a return pass.
It duly arrived, and Metcalfe duly pulled the trigger, only to be left shaking his head in disbelief as Payne appeared from nowhere to literally throw himself in the way of the shot and keep Wellington in
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contention.
More desperate defending by the Kiwi team followed soon afterwards, with Laws scrambling the ball to safety as Metcalfe and Maclaren made their presence felt in Wellington's goalmouth.
A Hemed drive, which was smothered by Glover, demonstrated that it wasn't all one-way traffic, but Melbourne kept on coming like a train. In the 55th minute, Metcalfe sent Noone storming clear from inside his own half, and with Maclaren in support, the pair bore down on goal, with Laws and Sail all that stood between them and a third City goal.
The defender covered the option of the pass to Maclaren, inviting Noone to take on Sail in a one-on-one situation. The approaching goalkeeper stood his ground and produced a fantastic save to turn Noone's shot over the bar.
City were still contemplating that miss when Wellington rampaged downfield from the resulting goal kick and levelled the scores for a second time. Good work by McGarry, half-time substitute Cameron Devlin and the indefatigable Ball - his was a massive performance for the cause - presented Davila with the ball just outside City's penalty area.
The Mexican drifted across the top of the box, past a couple of would-be challengers, before unleashing an unerring low, curling drive which Glover never got near - a super strike to bring about parity for the second time in the match.
It was all on for young and old now, and not just because of the gathering of the clans on the hour, which came about after McGarry and Ball had combined on the left, only for Reis to block the striker's attempt on goal.
Tempers calmed, play continued, and the chances kept on coming. Substitute Ben Waine's touch deserted him after the overlapping figure of Fenton looked to pick out the youngster with a cross, to which City responded via a raid featuring Garuccio, Nabbout and Berengeur - his shot was blocked.
The rebound was latched onto by Maclaren, who, despite the acuteness of the angle, cleverly evaded a defender before looking to beat Sail all ends up at his near post. The 'keeper was wise to that particular trick, as he was to Noone's twenty yarder a minute later, Sail diving to his right to smother that attempt to break the deadlock.
Seventeen minutes from time, only the retreating figure of Metcalfe prevented Davila from letting fly as Wellington pressed for a goal, a tally they should have realised four minutes later after a super move.
McGarry, Devlin and Waine combined neatly, the last-mentioned laying the ball off for the first-mentioned, who had continued his overlapping run, to fizz a cross in towards Davila. He deceived the defence by leaving it for Fenton, who was racing in on the far post, but not quickly enough to turn the ball home - a great chance spurned.
And a miss they were made to pay for soon afterwards. Good went close with a header following a Noone corner, to which Wellington responded via Fenton, who caught Garuccio in possession before setting up Davila for a shot which was blocked by Griffiths, and not in a manner worthy of the penalty the home team was claiming, according to referee Alireza Faghani.
Seven minutes from time, Melbourne took the lead for the third time in the contest. Substitute Stefan Colakovski's first involvement in the match was to bring Metcalfe into the move, and he duly picked out another replacement with his cross. Marco Tilio's deft header guided the ball into the corner of the net - 3-2 City.
Surely Wellington couldn't come back again? City attempted to deny them any such opportunity by adopting the "attack is the best form of defence" approach in the remaining minutes.
Maclaren spurned a glorious chance when through on goal with Sail to beat - he didn't even hit the target, while Payne - him again! - blocked another goalbound shot to safety, this time from Colakovski after he had gone past Laws as if the defender wasn't even there.
Payne then picked Maclaren's pocket, prompting a Wellington counter-attack which culminated in Davila shooting tamely at Glover. Back came City, Colakovski seeing another effort blocked before Sail smothered a twenty-yarder from Tilio.
Into stoppage time we charged, and there was one last chance for Wellington. Charles Lokoli Ngoy had joined the fray by this time, and he forced his way between two defenders on the right before delivering a cross beyond the far post.
Ball headed it back across goal to Fenton, whose close-range header was headed off the line by Noone, a denial which ensured Melbourne of second place on the table thanks to a thrilling 3-2 win over a Wellington side which is beginning to lose touch with the top six - they are seven points adrift of the play-offs, and all the teams above them have games in hand.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton (booked, 58), Payne, Laws (booked 62), McGarry; Rufer (Devlin, 46 (booked, 88)), Davila, Lewis (Muratovic, 86); Sotirio (Waine, 46), Hemed (Lokoli Ngoy, 81), Ball
Melbourne: Glover; Atkinson (Galloway, 21), Reis (Luna, 62), Good, Garuccio; Metcalfe, Berengeur (booked, 55), Griffiths; Nabbout (Tilio, 80), Maclaren, Noone (Colakovski, 80)
Referee: Alireza Faghani
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