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31July20
Wests Sink Ten-Man Wellington
by Jeremy Ruane
Western Sydney Wanderers gave their Hyundai A-League play-off hopes a timely boost at Bankwest Stadium on July 31, as they downed ten-man Wellington Phoenix 1-0 in front of 2,194 fans.
The second-placed side were fortunate not to have Louis Fenton booked inside the first two minutes for a late challenge on Simon Cox, and two minutes later were desperately unlucky not to crown a fine move with a goal to match.
Liberato Cacace's pass to Gary Hooper was brilliantly back-heeled by the striker to Ulises Davila, who duly rolled the ball into the stride of David Ball. Cutting in off the right, he unleashed a curling shot which hit the inside of the far post, bounced on - or was it over? - the line and hit the other post before being scrambled clear by Wests.
The Kiwi team had their tales up early on, with Wests 'keeper Tristan Prendergast punching a Cacace cross off the head of Hooper in the eighth minute, an attack to which Wests responded with one of their own, as Daniel Georgievski lashed a twenty-five yarder past Stefan Marinovic's left-hand post in the eleventh minute.
Patrick Ziegler's shirt-pulling act on Callum McCowatt went unpunished by referee Kurt Ams seconds later, the official having already incurred the wrath of the locals by allowing the persistent infringements of Cameron Devlin to go uncarded - the official had a generally poor night at the office.
Cacace and McCowatt combined for Ball's benefit in the fourteenth minute, the striker evading the clutches of two defenders before delivering a cross into the danger zone. Davila and Fenton closed in on it, as did Georgievski, whose intervention foiled the Wellington duo on this occasion.
The entire tone of the game changed in the twentieth minute, following a head clash between Fenton and Nicolai Muller which left the German unconscious for a few minutes.
The incident occurred as Wests stormed downfield on the counter-attack from a Wellington corner. The ball was in the air to be won, and Muller leapt and did so. After he had headed the ball on, the late-arriving Fenton's head caught Muller on the jaw.
He was out before he landed heavily, and players from both sides were signalling for medical attention while referee Ams - despite the clash of heads - allowed play to continue, as Tate Russell chanced his arm from forty yards and only narrowly failed to find the target.
Muller eventually came to, and was carried from the ground, but the incident took the life out of the
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game. There was very little else of note which occurred before half-time, save for Prendergast dealing with a tame McCowatt free-kick in the 36th minute which should never have been awarded, and two close calls at the other end of the park in the dying minutes of the half.
The first saw Marinovic slip just as he was clearing the ball, which ricocheted to safety off the hard-charging figure of Georgievski - it could just as easily have flown into the net! - while Mitchell Duke drew a save from Wellington's goalkeeper after igniting a raid which also featured Cox.
The second half carried on where the first left off, Muller's game-ending incident clearly impacting upon the players' competitive edge. But as the game went on, it was Wests who were gaining the edge, with Ziegler hooking a free-kick from Pirmin Schwegler straight into the hands of Marinovic ten minutes into the second half.
Ten minutes later came another turning point in the contest, with Wellington reduced to ten men following Luke De Vere's second bookable offence. Their lack of numbers counted against them eight minutes later, when Muller's replacement, Kwame Yeboah, was unmarked when heading home a Russell cross at the near post - 1-0 Wests.
Wellington instantly set about ramping up their game, but with ten minutes left could have found themselves further behind, Duke going close before Georgievski typified Wests' defiance with a vital covering challenge to foil another attack five minutes from time. Duke led their response, prodding the ball narrowly past the post on receipt of a cross from Keanu Baccus as the game entered stoppage time.
Try as they might, an equaliser wasn't forthcoming for Wellington, whose bid to confirm a second-placed finish is no longer in their hands after defeat in a match which could easily have seen them reduced to nine men - Fenton rode a disciplinary tightrope after the game-changing incident with Muller, who could well be out of action for the rest of the season.
West. Syd.: Prendergast; Ziegler (Mourdoukoutas, 81), McGowan, Jurman; Russell (Kamau, 81), Baccus, O'Doherty (booked 19) (Schwegler, 46), Georgievski; Cox (Adam, 81), Duke, Muller (Yeboah, 27)
Wellington: Marinovic; Fenton (booked 20), Taylor, De Vere (booked 55, 65 - sent off), Cacace; Davila (Sotirio, 68), Devlin (booked 62) (Rufer, 74), Steinmann (Waine, 86), McCowatt (Piscopo, 74); Ball, Hooper (McGing, 68)
Referee: Kurt Ams
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