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Melbourne Hold Off Fast-Finishing Wellington
by Jeremy Ruane
Melbourne Victory ended Wellington Phoenix's faint hopes of making the Isuzu Ute A-League play-offs this season by downing the home team 3-2 in front of 5,035 fans at Sky Stadium, a result which boosted the victors' hopes of securing a top-six finish.
The visitors hit the ground running, Nikos Vergos seeing a shot blocked after just 45 seconds, Zinedine Machach and Nishan Velupillay having prised open Wellington's defence, who didn't heed the warning, as they conceded the game's first goal in the fourth minute.
Daniel Arzani created mayhem this time round, before finding the unmarked Velupillay surging through the inside left channel into the penalty area. He drilled a low shot across both Scott Wootton and Josh Oluwayemi into the far corner of the net.
It could so easily have been 2-0 sixty seconds later, Wootton clearing off the line to deny Machach after Roderick Miranda had intercepted a Costa Barbarouses cross and sparked a counter-attack in which Arzani was again prominent.
Wellington responded to these attacks by launching one of their own in the tenth minute, from which they drew level. Tim Payne and Hideki Ishige combined to send Barbarouses buccaneering through the inside left channel, his run supported by the overlapping Sam Sutton. The fullback's low cross was turned home at the near post by Corban Piper - 1-1.
Melbourne didn't take kindly to this, and laid siege to the Wellington goal for the next thirty minutes. Wootton blocked an Arzani drive on the quarter hour before a vital Isaac Hughes clearance prevented Velupillay from latching onto an Arzani pass in behind the defence seven minutes later.
Matt Sheridan chimed in next, blocking a Velupillay drive, before Oluwayemi produced a fine double save to deny both Machach and Arzani, after Wellington were caught trying to play the ball out of defence, something they haven't done in recent weeks, and which resulted in a three-game unbeaten run.
In the 33rd minute, Machach pounced on a loose ball and fed Arzani, who instantly sent Velupillay knifing through the inside left channel. His shot was diverted past the far post by the combined efforts of Hughes and Oluwayemi, who blocked Kasey Bos' volley from the resulting Ryan Teague corner.
Oluwayemi produced another double save in the 36th minute, denying both Vergos and Arzani after Bos had sent a raking ball forward from halfway. That allowed Wellington to enjoy a brief spell of possession, during which Sutton saw a volley blocked by Rawlins before the home team should have taken the lead in the 44th minute.
Wootton pinged a lovely ball forward for Ishige, who took it past the charging figure of Mitch Langerak as he raced out of his penalty area to intervene. That left Ishige with an open goal to aim at from inside the 'D', but he contrived to hit the post - a pivotal miss, as it turned out.
For Melbourne went straight up the other end of the park and regained the lead, Machach heading home unchallenged from inside the six yard box on
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receipt of Velupillay's pinpoint corner - 2-1.
There was still time for Wellington to attempt to fashion an equaliser in the dying seconds of the half. Alex Rufer, Ishige - a delightful flick - and Kazuki Nagasawa combined to present Hughes with the chance to level the scores, but his fifteen yard effort soared over the crossbar.
As at the start of the first half, so, too, the second - Melbourne on the front foot early doors. This time, Oluwayemi saved Machach's shot on the run in the 47th minute, but had no chance three minutes later, as one of the great solo goals in A-League history came to pass.
Vergos swooped on a loose ball twenty-five yards from his own goal and set sail downfield, with retreating Wellington players in close proximity but opting not to challenge him. "Fine by me", said the striker, who carried on until he got to the edge of Wellington's penalty area, from where he slammed home a shot via the post - he would have run 75 yards before pulling the trigger!
That made it 3-1, and it was very nearly 4-1 three minutes later, Rawlins going desperately close with a twenty-yarder, a feat matched by Jordi Valedon halfway through the second spell as the visitors continued to hold sway.
That situation changed in the 75th minute, however, when Wellington reduced the deficit. Payne powered down the right before slipping a pass inside to Paulo Retre, who picked out the top far corner from twenty-five yards - 3-2. Alas for the scorer, himself a substitute, he had to be replaced soon after as he somehow injured himself in the process of scoring.
The goal gave Giancarlo Italiano's side fresh momentum, and after a gathering of the clans - Wellington, quite within their rights and the game's legislation, opted to play on despite former club man Reno Piscopo going to ground injured, a response to which Melbourne took umbrage - it was the home team who came home with a wet sail as they went in search of an equaliser.
Despite their best efforts, however, one wasn't forthcoming. Lachlan Jackson scrambled the ball to safety after Rufer, Nathan Walker and Payne had combined down the right, while Rawlins headed a Piper header to safety following a Sutton corner in the 89th minute.
Wellington's last chance materialised in stoppage time, Payne once more rampaging down the right, this time leaving Velupillay in his wake, before delivering a cross from the by-line which Piper headed onto the roof of the net, rather than into it. 3-2 the scoreline remained, a win which the visitors fully merited to keep their play-off prospects alive.
Wellington: Oluwayemi; Payne, Wootton, Hughes (Roa Conchie, 87), Sutton; Piper, Rufer, Sheridan (Kelly-Heald, 56); Ishige (Retre, 56 (Walker, 79)), Barbarouses, Nagasawa (Brooke-Smith, 56)
Melbourne: Langerak; Rawlins, Miranda (Hamill, 65 (booked, 78)), Jackson (booked, 58), Bos; Teague (Piscopo, 56 (Monge, 80)), Valedon; Vergos (Fornaroli, 80), Arzani (Badolato, 66), Machach, Velupillay
Referee: Alireza Faghani
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