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21Feb21
Wests Held By Much-Changed Wellington
by Jeremy Ruane
A much-changed Wellington Phoenix side held second-place-chasing Western Sydney Wanderers to a 2-2 draw in front of 3,383 fans in their A-League encounter at WIN Stadium on 21 February, a point which took the Kiwi side clear of the bottom rung on the league ladder.
Wests enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, forcing numerous corners. One, in the fifth minute from Nicolai Muller, was met at the near post by the airborne figure of Ziggy Gordon, whose diving header flew across the face of goal, needing only a touch to direct it on target.
None was forthcoming, prompting Wellington to launch a counter-attack which culminated in Reno Piscopo doing Tate Russell a treat on the edge of the penalty area before delivering a dangerous low cross which Wests were happy to clear to safety.
That counter-attack proved to be no fluke, for in the ninth minute, Wellington opened the scoring. Clayton Lewis secured possession in the centre circle and threaded the ball forward to Ulises Davila, whose defence-splitting pass invited Mirza Muratovic to dart in between defenders and take on the approaching figure of Daniel Margush.
The 'keeper blocked the flank player's first attempt, but the ball rebounded perfectly into the stride of Muratovic, who calmly despatched it into an empty net to give the Wellingtonians what, so far this season, has been a rare pleasure for them - enjoying the lead in an A-League fixture.
Eight minutes later, they came desperately close to doubling it, Piscopo's deft control of a pass from Ben Waine - one of five changes to their starting line-up - engineering him space from which to unleash a stinging twenty yard drive which crashed against the post.
To say Wests were relieved by the sight of that near miss rebounding back into play was an understatement. They knew they were in a game, so set about the task of getting back into it with a vengeance.
Oliver Sail looked on as the charging figure of Muller let fly in vain half-way through the first half, while two minutes later Wellington's goalkeeper - afforded a rare start by coach Ufuk Talay as he dropped Stefan Marinovic - was smothering an effort from Kwame Yeboah following a partly cleared corner from Muller.
Back came Wellington, Davila leading the charge down the right, where he did Mark Natta a treat before the mop-topped defender came back at Wellington's captain just as Davila was poised to shoot. The defender's intervention ensured Margush was little troubled in saving the effort.
Wests were coming on strong, though, and Wellington were being penned back deep inside their own half as their opponents chased an equaliser before half-time. Gordon played the ball wide to Russell in the 37th minute, the midfielder's inviting cross begging a touch which never came as it arrowed across the goalmouth.
Seconds later, Sail punched clear yet another corner, the ball landing at the feet of Davila on this occasion. The Mexican got the better of an opponent before picking out Piscopo with a fine angled pass. Sadly for Wellington, the creative midfielder's touch deserted him at a critical moment.
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Right on the stroke of half-time, Sail produced a fine save diving to his left to keep out a rising drive from Yeboah, after Daniel Wilmering's cross to the far post had been headed inside by Muller.
Wests started the second half like a house on fire. Jordan O'Doherty won the ball just outside Wellington's penalty area and picked out Bernie Ibini-Isei with a pass which invited the striker to carve out some space for himself in the area and deliver a cross to the far post which Muller was just a stride away from turning home in the 48th minute.
A minute later, the bizarre sight of Sail nearly throwing the ball into his own net - he retrieved it just in time - was countered his doing what he does best seconds later, as he plunged to his right to turn away a twenty-five yarder from Muller, after Ibini-Isei and Yeboah had combined to good effect.
The pressure continued, with Yeboah heading the ball straight at Sail from six yards out on receipt of another pinpoint Muller set-piece delivery, after which the German rattled the stanchion as the hour mark loomed large.
A goal had to come, and Wests finally scored it in the 71st minute. For a change, O'Doherty took the free-kick, and delivered a fabulously weighted curling ball to the far post, where Keanu Baccus was lurking to steer a volley across goal, where Yeboah was on hand to gleefully head home - 1-1.
Straight from the kick-off, Waine fired home with unerring accuracy inside Margush's near post, only to be denied by the offside flag. The scare renewed Wests' attacking intensity, and they were rewarded with a second goal in the 77th minute.
Substitutes Simon Cox and Mitch Duke worked a one-two before the former brought Wilmering into play, cutting in off the left. A delightfully weighted cross into the stride of substitute Bruce Kamau was the outcome, and joyous celebrations followed as he steered the ball into the far corner of the net to give Wests a 2-1 lead.
It took all of two minutes for Wellington to restore parity, and this time the goal stood. Lewis floated a free-kick to the far post, where Alex Rufer rose to head the ball back across goal. Louis Fenton's salmon-like leap resulted in his header flashing into the top far corner of the net - 2-2!
Within a minute, Wellington pressed again, only for referee Alireza Fagahana to wave away penalty claims as Davila went down under Jordan Mutch's scything challenge in the area.
Back came Wests in search of a winner, only for Tim Payne's vital headed clearance to deny Duke as he looked to head home a cross from Russell, whose stoppage time twenty-five yarder was kept out by Sail to ensure the struggling side of a point from this lively encounter.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton, Payne, McGing, McGarry; Muratovic (Lokoli Ngoy, 77), Rufer, Davila (booked, 54) (Ridenton, 87), Lewis, Piscopo (Devlin, 64); Waine
West. Syd.: Margush; Gordon, McGowan, Natta; Russell (booked, 16), O'Doherty (Mutch, 76), Baccus, Wilmering (Aquilina, 87); Yeboah (Duke, 76), Muller (booked, 65) (Kamau, 68), Ibini-Isei (Cox, 68)
Referee: Alireza Fagahana
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