The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
02Jan21 | 09Jan21 | 24Jan21 | 31Jan21 | 08Feb21 | 14Feb21 | 21Feb21 | 24Feb21 | 28Feb21 | 07Mar21 | 15Mar21 | 21Mar21 | 24Mar21 | 28Mar21 | 05Apr21 | 11Apr21 | 18Apr21 | 22Apr21 | 25Apr21 | 01May21 | 07May21 | 16May21 | 22May21 | 26May21 | 30May21 | 04June21
30May21
Two Penalty Tales Leave Play-Off Hopes In Limbo
by Jeremy Ruane
An early penalty reversal and a late penalty miss in Wellington Phoenix's 2-2 draw with Perth Glory at Eden Park on May 30 may have sounded the death knell on the home team's A-League play-off hopes for the 2020-21 season, despite the best efforts of the 22,233-strong crowd to roar their heroes home.
The atmosphere generated by the fans who converged on New Zealand's National Stadium, despite the off-putting weather conditions, was sensational - the All Blacks tests which regularly take place at the same venue in front of crowds twice this size struggle to match the fervour produced by the local faithful and those who travelled north to New Zealand's home of football on this occasion.
They were treated to a thrilling encounter, with both teams going all out for victory given their play-off hopes would be all but over with anything less than a three-point haul from this fixture, although a draw for Perth, given they have a game in hand on Wellington, wouldn't be the end of the world from their perspective.
Not so for Wellington, however. They duly set about the task of staking their claim for all three points from the first whistle, and within ninety seconds had earned a penalty for their early initiative.
Prior to it, Louis Fenton earned a free-kick, which Reno Piscopo - playing with a heavily strapped shoulder - whipped in towards the near post. Tim Payne and Kosuke Ota both went down in the area as contact between them was made while both were moving towards the ball, prompting referee Alex King to briefly ponder the situation before pointing to the penalty spot.
Perth's players were apoplectic, claiming that Payne had dived to earn the spot-kick. The Video Assistant Referee reviewed the incident, and asked Mr King to make his way to the sideline monitor to have a look at the evidence available to them. He came, he saw and he changed his mind based on the footage shown from various angles - no penalty, much to the dismay of the crowd, which booed heartily in response.
Having survived that early scare, Perth set out their stall, with captain Diego Castro leading the charge. In the seventh minute, the veteran playmaker rewarded the overlapping run of Dane Ingham, who worked a one-two with Andy Keogh before drilling a cross into the danger zone.
Wellington cleared their lines on this occasion, but were mesmerised by Castro's brilliant work on the edge of the penalty area four minutes later, culminating in a flicked pass intended for Joel Chianese's benefit.
It was blocked, however, prompting Castro to switch to plan B, a curling effort which took a deflection, diverting it towards the top far corner of the net, which it would have found but for the athletic intervention of Oliver Sail.
Perth continued to threaten after this, with Ingham's pace and power on the right a key aspect of their attacking forays - watching All Whites coach Danny Hay would surely have been impressed with the performance of the seven-times-capped international.
But it was Wellington who next threatened to score, Clayton Lewis threading a 21st minute pass through for David Ball, who was charging through the inside right channel, and opted to shoot early. Sadly for the home team, his effort rolled past the far post.
Back came Perth, Castro and Ingham combining on the right for the benefit of Keogh. His superb turn left Payne beaten all ends up, and the striker duly set up his front-running partner, Chianese. Steven Taylor's presence forced him to sky his effort - a let-off for the locals.
Wellington's response to this close call had the fans roaring - the game's opening goal, in the 25th minute. Tomer Hemed's super reverse pass invited Piscopo to set off on a cross-field run before picking out Fenton's run on the right.
The fullback took on an opponent before pulling the ball back to the edge of the penalty area, where Hemed had drifted to after checking his initial run. The Israeli duly sent a fifteen yard missile arrowing over the head of Liam Reddy and into the roof of the net - 1-0 Wellington, and how the faithful loved it!
Piscopo's thirty yard free-kick round the wall was turned round the post by Reddy four minutes later, while ten minutes before half-time, Wall pinged one forward for crowd favourite Ben Waine to exploit.
The youngster outmuscled Darryl Lachman before setting up Hemed for a twenty yarder, which he fired over the top with both Fenton and Piscopo better placed to capitalise on the opportunity.
Perth responded to this through, inevitably, Castro, who surged forward unchallenged before delivering a perfectly weighted pass into the stride of the overlapping figure of Ingham, who rattled the near post side-netting with a fierce drive.
Three minutes before half-time, Wellington went desperately close to doubling their lead, with Lachman's vital block preventing Ball from doing so after Piscopo had sent Sam Sutton scuttling to the byline, from where he picked out the industrious attacker with a driven cross.
The home team continued to enjoy the better of the exchanges early in the second spell. Hemed hammered a twenty-five yarder past the post four minutes after the resumption of play, before combining with Waine, Cameron Devlin and Ball to present Piscopo with a shooting chance in the 57th minute.
His effort was blocked, but Sutton gathered the rebound and delivered a measured cross towards Hemed who, despite the difficulty of the opportunity, managed to send a header flying past Reddy's right-hand post.
The visitors needed some inspiration from somewhere, and it arrived in the form of substitute Bruno Fornaroli, who levelled the scores in the 61st minute, just five minutes after entering the fray at the expense of Ingham - a surprising departure, given both Keogh and Chianese weren't exactly making their presence felt in attack.
|
The newcomer wasted little time in doing so. Jason Geria won the ball near halfway, and Keogh, the beneficiary of the defender's efforts, delivered an early pass inside for Castro. His gorgeous defence-splitting pass arrived in the stride of Fornaroli, whose first touch steered the sphere beyond Sail and into the far corner of the net - 1-1.
That briefly silenced the natives, but they were soon urging Wellington on again, especially when they won a free-kick in the 65th minute. Lewis' delivery picked out the head of Hemed, who directed the ball across to the far post, where Reddy rose above all-comers to punch clear.
Another Lewis set-piece, this time a 72nd minute corner, was the cause of further consternation for Perth. Hemed again proved superior to all in the air, directing the ball towards Ball, who went for an ambitious overhead kick which, with Geria's head in the immediate vicinity of both boot and ball, was never going to be successful.
Out of nothing, Perth took the lead two minutes later. Callum Timmins latched onto the ball in midfield, and from thirty yards, unleashed a thunderbolt which fair stormed into the top far corner of Sail's net, the 'keeper diving in vain for what is certain to be a strong contender for "Goal of the Season". Unstoppable!
The silence which suddenly enveloped Eden Park was eerie. The fans weren't quiet for long, however. Indeed, within six minutes they were roaring with delight once more, as Wellington drew level.
Team captain and talisman Ulises Davila had entered the fray in the 68th minute, and his first noteworthy contribution, on receipt of a pass from Payne, saw him deliver a devilish round-the-corner pass into the stride of fellow substitute Jaushua Sotirio, who cut inside past two opponents before curling a twenty-five yard around the diving figure of Reddy into the far corner of the net - 2-2.
And all to play for as a result. For both teams, the season was condensed into roughly ten minutes, played in the atmosphere which only a grandstand finish can generate. Brilliant stuff!
Wellington, knowing a draw was as good as a loss from their perspective, threatened first, Davila releasing Fenton down the right, from where the fullback delivered a cross to the far post.
Timmins' timely intervention denied the locals the chance to exploit it, and the scorer of Perth's second goal soon found himself delivering a cross which substitute Nick D'Agostino headed past the near post, the first opportunity generated by a series of Castro corners which kept Wellington on the back foot.
The home team came again in the 88th minute. Fenton threw the ball into the penalty area, where Devlin, whose combative nature is such that he'd start a riot in a phone booth, was bundled over by the retreating figure of D'Agostino. There was no hesitation from referee King this time - penalty!
Perth players instantly surrounded the official, with Fornaroli losing the plot big-time. He was booked as their remonstrations fell on deaf ears - Mr King's mind was made up.
Eventually, the penalty was able to be taken. And despite Hemed being the man in form, captain Davila pulled rank, and took on the task of winning the match for Wellington from twelve yards. But his was a poor spot-kick, one well saved by former Phoenix custodian Reddy as he dived to his left to parry the ball to safety.
An almighty scramble ensued, a feature of which was a handball by Chianese which wasn't spotted by any of the officials, VAR included. And there was plenty more drama to come in stoppage time, with Perth using every trick in the book to stave off defeat and make known their displeasure to referee King, who ended up booking five Perth players over the course of the contest - there should have been more!
Davila looked to atone for his penalty miss via a twenty-five yard free-kick, but Reddy turned this round the post. The resulting corner from Lewis saw shots from Davila and Devlin blocked, and another handball offence committed, this time by Castro.
Into the final minute of play we went, with Wellington, urged on by the crowd, pressing hard for the winner. Sutton and Lewis worked a one-two down the left which culminated in the fullback fizzing in a cross which had Fenton's name written all over it, until he went down in the area under the challenge of the already booked Lachman.
Referee King wasn't moved by this penalty claim, and when he blew the final whistle soon afterwards, boos resounded around Eden Park, the fans making their feelings known about the officiating, particularly the numerous contentious incidents in the final minutes of a superb contest, which finished honours even, 2-2.
The result means Wellington has set a new club record of ten consecutive games without defeat, but that will be of scant pleasure to them if their play-off pursuit ends up falling short.
Their fate is now in the hands of others, and it's quite feasible that when they line up against Macarthur FC on Friday evening, it could be their last game of the season. For if Macarthur and Brisbane Roar win their scheduled matches in between times, and Adelaide United avoid defeat in their remaining fixture, that combination of results will conclude Wellington's play-off prospects.
Perth can influence the outcome of one of those fixtures, and they'll need to, because if they don't beat Brisbane and bottom-placed Newcastle Jets in their remaining fixtures, their play-off hopes, too, will be done and dusted. 'Twill be an interesting week ahead …
Wellington: Sail; Fenton (booked, 78), Taylor, Payne, Sutton; Ball, Devlin (booked, 90), Lewis, Piscopo (Sotirio, 59); Waine (Davila, 68), Hemed
Perth: Reddy; Geria, Aspropotamitis (booked, 82), Lachman (booked, 50), Ota; Ingham (Fornaroli, 56 (booked, 89)), Timmins (booked, 65), Bodnar (Malik, 81), Castro (booked, 90); Keogh (D'Agostino, 76), Chianese
Referee: Alex King
|