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21Apr23
Play-Off Hopes On Brink After Wests Wallop Wellington
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix's Isuzu Ute A-League play-off hopes are on the brink after they were handed a 4-0 hiding by Western Sydney Wanderers in front of 10,766 fans at the CommBank Stadium.
The home team were swiftly into their stride, Amor Layouni and Adama Traore both going close inside the first three minutes before David Ball led Wellington's response, heading past the post from a Yan Sasse cross two minutes later.
Wellington continued to press after this but were caught on the counter-attack in the ninth minute, Aidan Simmons surging out of defence past three opponents before linking with Brandon Borrello, who instantly brought Layouni into play.
The winger worked an opening with Milos Ninkovic, who somehow evaded a couple of challenges before setting up a goal for Borrello on a plate - 1-0 Wanderers, to the undisguised delight of former Wellington coach Mark Rudan.
The goal stunned Wellington, and while Sasse went close to equalising soon after, it quickly became clear that the confirmed play-off contenders weren't satisfied with just one goal - they went hunting for more, with Borrello seeing a shot blocked on the quarter hour before Layouni fired past the near post under pressure from Tim Payne after the visitors had been opened up by Romain Amalfitano's first-time pass.
Calem Nieuwenhof and Layouni both drew saves from Oli Sail before the halfway mark in the half was reached, after which the tempo eased a touch, only for Wests to step it up again on the half-hour with instant dividends.
Bozhidar Kraev got himself into a tight spot from which there was no escape, Nieuwenhof emerging with the ball and working a one-two with Borrello before sidestepping the covering figure of Payne and firing home Wests' second goal from ten yards.
There was no respite for Wellington, who were carved apart by a scrumptious passing move in the 34th minute featuring Layouni, the outstanding Amalfitano and Nieuwenhof, who created an opening for Borrello which resulted in Sail producing a blocking save.
He produced another six minutes later, this time denying the impressively performed Simmons, who powered past three opponents on the right before working a one-two with Amalfitano which left him one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The fullback's eyes lit up, much to the ire of Ninkovic, who was unmarked on the edge of the goal area with the target at his mercy - a chance spurned.
Just prior to this, a rare Wellington raid saw Clayton Lewis' free-kick headed into the near post stanchion by Ball. Both were instrumental in the visitors' next raid, Oskar Zawada flicking Lewis' ball into Ball's stride, with the striker playing in Kraev, whose finish summed up Wellington's night - well off the mark!
Wests went desperately close to netting a third goal in the shadows of the half-time whistle. Tomi Mrcela broke up a Wellington attack and instantly linked with Layouni to present the ball to Nieuwenhof. He weaved past three opponents before lashing an angled shot inches past the far
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post.
Wellington had barely cleared their lines from this when their hosts hammered on the door again, this time via a left-wing raid sparked by Morgan Schneiderlin releasing Traore to the by-line, from where his cross was dummied by Borrello for the benefit of Ninkovic. Sail wasn't fooled, saving well to his left to ensure the visitors only trailed by two goals - it could easily have been more.
A more competitive Wellington showing was evident in the early stages of the second spell, with only vital headed clearances by Mrcela and Marcelo preventing Zawada from capitalising on the crosses of Sasse and Lewis on the hour mark.
Wests' response? 3-0, a 65th minute goal sparked by Amalfitano's ball to release Simmons on the right. He shrugged off Costa Barbarouses before rounding Sail and jinking inside Callan Elliot's challenge, then gleefully tucked home his first A-League goal from six yards, one his performance fully merited.
Still they pressed, Schneiderlin and Amalfitano combining to send substitute Yeni Ngbakoto racing through the middle five minutes later. Sail pawed his lobbed effort to safety, prompting a response from Wellington at the other end of the park, the hitherto unoccupied Lawrence Thomas producing saves to deny Steven Ugarkovic and Zawada.
Back came Wests, Ngbakoto inches away from turning home Traore's 76th minute cross, to which Wellington responded via Zawada, who capitalised on a Nieuwenhof blunder inside his defensive third but was unable to find a way past Thomas.
Three minutes from time, Wests wrapped up a convincing 4-0 victory in style, Kusini Yengi nutmegging Sail after being played in by fellow substitute Nicolas Milanovic, who had charged into Wellington's half of the pitch at a great rate of knots, and without too many challenges from well-beaten opponents whose play-off hopes now hang by a thread.
The four-year reign of departing Wellington coach Ufuk Talay is ending with a whimper, but avoiding defeat at Macarthur Bulls in their final round-robin game will almost certainly ensure he has at least one more match in charge of the New Zealand contenders.
However, on this showing, one wonders whether they deserve to even contest the play-offs. Wellington has suffered four losses in their last five games, games in which they've conceded seventeen goals, while three of those defeats have seen teams already assured of play-off places fully exploit the shortcomings of poor opponents on the scoreboard, an outcome which, if it weren't repeated in May confrontations, would come as a surprise.
West. Syd.: Thomas; Simmons, Mrcela, Marcelo, Traore; Layouni (Ngbakoto, 61), Nieuwenhof, Schneiderlin, Amalfitano (Milanovic, 79); Borrello, Ninkovic (Yengi, 79)
Wellington: Sail; Elliot (booked, 77), Wootton, Payne (booked, 69) (Laws, 72), Sutton (Mauragis, 72); Sasse, Ugarkovic (Pennington, 79), Lewis (Rufer, 72 (booked, 86)), Kraev (Barbarouses, 52); Zawada, Ball
Referee: Alex King
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