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22July20
Wellington Close In On Top Two Finish
by Jeremy Ruane
Wellington Phoenix's bid to claim a top-two finish in the Hyundai A-League is very much in their hands after they overcame Perth Glory 2-1 at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium on July 22.
Perth dominated possession in a largely sterile first half, which only came to life in the 32nd minute when Wellington opened the scoring on the counter-attack, and against the run of play.
Gathering possession on the edge of his own penalty area, Callum McCowatt swiftly worked a one-two with Matti Steinmann before pinging a peach of a pass over the shoulder of striker Gary Hooper, who held off the attentions of Alex Grant before neatly picking his spot beyond Liam Reddy.
That goal prompted Perth to redouble their efforts, and five minutes before half-time they finally mustered a shot worthy of the description as Stefan Marinovic turned away a Bruno Fornaroli effort after he had dropped deep to pick up possession.
The second spell was just three minutes old when Wellington doubled their advantage, half-time substitute Ulises Davila steering home a penalty after David Ball had been clumsily felled in the area by Jacob Tratt, another half-time introduction.
Perth piled on the pressure in search of a way back into the contest, with Kristian Popovic's deflected drive bringing about a 54th minute Noel Kilkenny corner which culminated in Tratt seeing his header being turned away by Marinovic.
Wellington responded with a crafty raids, Davila's delicious back-heeled attempt to play in Ball deserving of better fate after he had received a pass from Cameron Devlin in the 57th minute, two minutes after which McCowatt stormed out of defence and got to the edge of Perth's penalty area before presenting Ball with a shooting chance, which he curled onto the roof of the net.
Perth were back in the contest in the 62nd minute. Ball and substitute Nick D'Agostino combined from a corner to pick out Dane Ingham, some twenty-five yards out from goal against the countrymen of his berth. He duly let rip, a deflected curling effort which flew past the diving figure of Mariniovic - game on!
A Cameron Devlin error presented Fornaroli with a great chance to level the scores four minutes later, on receipt of Kristian Popovic's pass. But on a rough night for the usually prolific marksman, his shot was greedily grabbed by Marinovic.
Perth kept on coming, piling on the pressure in search of an equaliser. But for all their creativity, they mustered just one further chance of note, ten minutes from time. Again, Fornaroli was their go-to player, but once more, he was denied, this time after gathering possession thirty yards from goal and surging forward before seeing his shot deflected to safety.
Wellington's win strengthens their grip on third spot, but they lie just a point behind second-placed Melbourne City having played a game less - second spot is very much theirs for the taking, although overhauling Sydney FC in first place may be a mathematical option only.
Perth: Reddy; Malik, Grant (booked, 64), Franjic (Tratt, 46); Juande, Kilkenny, Brimmer (Chianese, 46), K. Popovic, Ingham (Meredith, 79); G. Popovic (D'Agostino, 62), Fornaroli
Wellington: Marinovic; Fenton, Taylor, De Vere, Cacace; Devlin, Steinmann (booked, 50); Piscopo (Sotirio, 51), Ball, McCowatt (Hudson-Wihongi, 83); Hooper (Davila, 46)
Referee: Alex King
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