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12Apr19
Bautheac Brace Sees Brisbane Beat Wellington
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix's hopes of securing a home quarter-final in the Hyundai A-League nosedived at Suncorp Stadium on April 12, as Brisbane Roar stunned their visitors 2-1 to notch just their fourth win of the season.
And Wellington only had themselves to blame, with profligate finishing the root of their demise, the first example of it coming in the fifth minute, when Max Burgess shot straight at Jamie Young upon receipt of a pass from Justin Gulley.
Brisbane responded instantly, Izaack Powell's ball forward being flicked on by Eric Bautheac to Zachary Duncan, who cut inside before seeing his shot take a deflection off Andrew Durante, which took it past the post.
Alex Lopez's resulting corner to the near post found Thomas Kristensen flying in, and his header looked home for all money until Filip Kurto produced a stunning one-handed reflex save to his left to keep Wellington on level terms.
Buoyed by that close call, the home team pressed again through Dylan Wenzel-Halls, who charged down the right before scything inside and lashing a shot a yard past the far post in the ninth minute.
Two minutes later, it was Wellington's turn to threaten again. Roy Krishna switched play to Liberato Cacace and instantly made a beeline for Young's left-hand upright, towards which the visitors' wingback delivered a cross which had the Fijian striker's name written all over it until Matt McKay intervened, much to Brisbane's relief.
The open nature of the match continued on the quarter hour when Burgess and David Williams produced a lovely interchange in the area which culminated in the latter delivering a cross to the far post.
Krishna deferred to the better-placed Cacace, who was frustrated by Young's blocking save. The ball was only cleared as far as Mandi Sosa, who unleashed a curling shot which hit the far post and rebounded to safety.
After Kristensen had gone close with another header from a corner delivered to the near post, this time by Bautheac, Wellington threatened again in the 24th minute. Gulley's low cross wasn't cleared by McKay, inviting Williams to swivel and lash a shot which sizzled just over the left-hand angle of Young's goal.
Brisbane were making genuine in-roads in behind Wellington's wingbacks, Gulley in particular. But it was a raid through the middle from which they should have broken the deadlock in the 27th minute. Lopez released Nick D'Agostino with a pass which invited the striker to surge forward before linking up with Bautheac, who dragged his shot well wide of the far post.
The Frenchman was keen to make amends, however, and two minutes later he pounced on a stray Alex Rufer pass and in turn delivered a delicious pass in behind Wellington's defence. Charging through after it were D'Agostino and Wenzel-Halls, who won the race for the ball only to fail to make contact with it - the perfect air-shot!
Wellington cleared their lines on this occasion, but were rocking again in the 31st minute when Bautheac, finding himself in acres of space in the middle of the visitors' half of the pitch, picked his pass and invited Wendel-Halls to let fly. Much to the youngster's frustration, his shot flew past the near post.
Eight minutes before half-time, the visitors finally buckled. Kristensen cleared the ball out of defence to Bautheac, who was half-way inside his own half but nonetheless set sail for goal at breakneck pace, given the bulk of the Wellington team had been up for a corner.
After evading one challenge, he worked a one-two with D'Agostino before cleverly side-stepping his way past three more opponents, one of whom, Durante, stuck doggedly with the Frenchman, forcing him towards the byline.
Bautheac wasn't to be denied, however, and his shot deflected off the veteran defender and over Kurto at the near post, the ball arcing into the far corner of the net to the delight of the 6,084 fans present. A terrific individual goal.
Five minutes later, Bautheac bagged a second goal. Lopez surged through the inside-right channel before feeding Wenzel-Halls wide of him. He checked inside before threading the needle with a low angled cross which somehow evaded a plethora of defenders before being turned home on the far post by the game's only goalscorer - 2-0.
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Half-time couldn't come soon enough for the visitors, and Sarpreet Singh's introduction to the fray was their response to their predicament. They were a much better-performed team in the second spell, and got off to a great start as they looked to peg back the two-goal deficit.
Within a minute of the game resuming, Durante lashed a fifteen-yarder past the post following an Alex Rufer corner, while six minutes later, Michal Lopczynski and Cacace combined on the left with the resulting cross reaching Singh, whose shot was turned round the post by Young.
The 'keeper didn't stand a prayer from Rufer's resulting corner, however. The midfielder's delivery picked out the head of the fit-again Steven Taylor, who, from six yards, sent the ball bulleting into the bottom far corner of the net - 2-1.
Brisbane responded superbly to this setback, and after Bautheac grazed the crossbar with a thirty yard free-kick, some delightful combination play in their defensive third culminated in Wenzel-Halls being released down the right. Durante was turning this way and that in a bid to contain the youngster, who finally found space from which to shoot upon reaching the edge of the penalty area.
Kurto battered the shot away, then smothered a Joe Caletti shot after the substitute had rounded the inept figure of Gulley on Brisbane's left en route towards the target.
Wellington's instant response featured a Burgess cross, with Singh tackled by Jacob Pepper as he looked to make the most of it. The visitors' half-time substitute erred again soon after, cutting in from the right before shooting at Young when Cacace was in yards of space to his left and far better placed to exploit the opportunity.
At this point, Brisbane introduced Charles Lokoli-Ngoy to the fray, and within a minute of coming on he was Durante all sorts of problems, eventually outmuscling the older player before seeing Kurto block his acute-angled shot at the near post.
Back came Wellington, their pursuit of an equaliser buoyed by the fact we were now within twenty minutes of the final whistle. Rufer hit an inswinging corner to the near post in the 72nd minute which Young was forced to paw out from beneath his crossbar - it was the equaliser otherwise. In the immediate aftermath, Singh volleyed into the side-netting.
But Brisbane wanted this very, very much, and kept on pressing in search of a third, clinching goal. Kurto grabbed a twenty-yarder from Wenzel-Halls before looking on as Lokoli-Ngoy saw his shot on the turn deflect to safety off Taylor, with Durante once more outsmarted by the burly substitute.
D'Agostino was next to feature, the beneficiary of a cross from Bautheac which saw the striker climb all over Kopczynski, only to head the ball straight at Kurto as the game moved into the last five minutes.
In that time, Wellington twice squandered glorious chances to equalise. On the first occasion, in the 89th minute, Gulley pumped the ball forward for substitute Cillian Sheridan to flick on for Cacace, who dashed to the by-line before pulling the ball back into the stride of the Irishman.
Sheridan's shot, with Young beaten, cannoned off the near post and rebounded upfield, inviting Brisbane to launch a counter-attack which culminated in Lokoli-Ngoy lashing a shot on the run over the bar.
Worse was to come for the visitors in stoppage time. Sheridan and Singh combined to send Williams haring through the Brisbane rearguard. He outpaced the defence then rounded Young before inexplicably firing wide of an unguarded net - how crucial will that miss prove to be in the race for fourth place and a home quarter-final.
With virtually the last act of the game, Bautheac turned from hero to villain for Brisbane, recklessly committing his second bookable offence to earn himself a red card from referee Peter Green, who endured a rather testy evening in his arbitrary role on a night Brisbane arrested their form slump against a Wellington team which, given they're chasing a play-offs spot, looks to be striking one at exactly the wrong time.
Brisbane: Young; Leck, Pepper (booked, 32), Duncan (Lokoli-Ngoy, 66 (booked, 90)), Powell (booked, 34); McKay, Lopez, Kristensen (Caletti, 46);Wenzel-Halls, D'Agostino (Reardon, 90), Bautheac (booked, 83, 90 - sent off)
Wellington: Kurto; Taylor (booked, 63), Durante, Kopczynski; Gulley, Rufer, Sosa (Singh, 46), Cacace; Krishna (Sheridan, 71), Burgess, Williams
Referee: Peter Green
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