Australia Cup Quarter-Final Match Review

The Wellington Phoenix are the latest A-League side to fall victim to Heidelberg United in the Hahn Australia Cup.

The National Premier Leagues (NPL) Victoria side have beaten the Phoenix 4-0 in the first of the Cup quarter-finals, a week after dispatching Western Sydney Wanderers 3-0 in the round of 16.

Heidelberg led 1-0 at halftime courtesy of an unfortunate Wellington own goal and took command of the tie with two goals early in the second half before adding a fourth in the 85^th minute.

Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was disappointed to bow out of the Cup in such fashion.

“For large parts we dominated that match,” Italiano said post-match. “The first half we should have capitalised on those two/three big chances that we had.

“[We] scored an own goal against the run of play but the big thing that killed us was the first 10 minutes of the second half.

“We got caught twice on the counter, poor second ball recovery and we got punished for it, and then the fourth goal just topped off the whole performance.

“But the positive was that the boys didn’t give up, the subs came on and we were a little bit more on the front foot, but again that game changes if we score earlier.”

He concedes they have a lot of work to do before the start of the A-League season, especially in regards to the squad’s fitness.

“If we’re going to be on the front foot for the whole season, to play like that is high risk, high reward.

“We need to be fit for 90 minutes that’s the most important thing and then build confidence by playing as many games as we can.

“The signs have been positive but obviously if you’re going to play like this you’ll get anomaly scores like that.”

Giancarlo Italiano made two changes to the XI which started the round of 16 win over Nunawading City with fit-again goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi and young striker Luke Supyk starting in place of Eamonn McCarron and Luke Brooke-Smith, who were both included amongst the substitutes.

Oluwayemi was called upon twice in the opening two minutes to make a couple of sharp saves before the Phoenix took control of the match.

But the Nix had little to show for their dominance in the first half and were unable to properly test Heidelberg’s ‘keeper Yaren Sozer.

The hosts were fortunate to take the lead in the 34^th minute when Wellington defender Isaac Hughes found the back of his own net.

Heidelberg held the one goal advantage until halftime and the Phoenix found themselves three goals down little over five minutes into the second half.

The Bergers doubled their lead in the 47^th minute courtesy of a quality strike from Max Bisetto, who was perhaps fortunate to not receive two yellow cards in the first half.

Asahi Yokokawa made it 3-0 four minutes later after the Nix failed to deal with a Heidelberg attack.

Italiano responded by making a quadruple change, bringing on Paulo Retre, Brooke-Smith, Carlo Armiento and Ifeanyi Eze in place of Fin Roa Conchie, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues, Lukas Kelly-Heald and Luke Supyk.

The substitutions made a difference with the Phoenix more on the front foot and they started to create more opportunities.

Sozer did well to tip a cross-come-shot from Tim Payne over his bar in the 59^th minute and soon after a last ditch block from the Bergers denied Eze his first goal for the club after the Nix won possession high up the pitch.

The Nigerian striker shot over the bar in the 70^th minute and Brooke-Smith did likewise a couple of minutes later after Rufer, who was fresh off the bench, found the teenager with a clever ball over the top.

Sozer kept out a couple further cross-come-shots from Xuan Loke and Brooke-Smith before Heidelberg substitute Chok Dau put the Bergers up 4-0 with another top quality finish which again picked out the top right corner of Wellington’s goal.

Kazuki Nagasawa found the back of the net with a classy volley moments later, but he was flagged for offside.

Nagasawa also forced Sozer into a save in time added on, but the hosts held on to secure the clean sheet.

The Wellington Phoenix will return home on Wednesday and have eight more weeks to get ready for the 2025-26 Isuzu UTE A-League season.

Wellington Phoenix: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 5. Fin ROA CONCHIE (8. Paulo RETRE 53^rd), 6. Tim PAYNE, 9. Hideki ISHIGE (14. Alex RUFER 71^st), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 17. Gabriel SLOANE-RODRIGUES (29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH 53^rd), 18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD (11. Carlo ARMIENTO 53^rd), 23. Luke SUPYK (7. Ifeanyi EZE 53^rd), 24. Xuan LOKE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA (c), 27. Matthew SHERIDAN.
Unused substitutes: 40. Eamonn MCCARRON (gk), 42. Fergus GILLION.

Heidelberg United: 1. Yaren SOZER (gk), 3. Benjamin COLLINS (c), 4. Jamal ALI (18. Anthony THEODOROPOULOS 78^th), 6. Anthony LESIOTIS, 7. Fletcher FULTON (27. Akiel RAFFIE 90^th), 8. Cherif Mohamed AIDARA (13. Johnny APOSTOLOPOULOS 90^th), 9. Bul JUACH, 10. Asahi YOKOKAWA, 11. Sabit NGOR (15. Chok DAU 78^th), 14. Ryan LETHLEAN, 20. Max BISETTO (17. Jay MCGOWAN 64^th).
Unused substitutes: 22. Ryan GOVAN (gk), 19. Peter KLAASSEN.

Goals:
15. Isaac HUGHES (Wellington Phoenix) – 34^th og
20. Max BISETTO (Heidelberg United) – 47^th
10. Asahi YOKOKAWA (Heidelberg United) – 51^st
15. Chok DAU (Heidelberg United) – 85^th

Cards:
24. Xuan LOKE (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 23^rd
25. Kazuki NAGASAWA (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 26^th
7. Fletcher FULTON (Heidelberg United) – yellow – 40^th
20. Max BISETTO (Heidelberg United) – yellow – 41^st