Another contentious refereeing decision has cost the Wellington Phoenix in Chris Greenacre’s first match back in charge.
The Phoenix have been beaten 1-0 by Sydney FC at the newly named Hnry Stadium in Wellington after the referee overturned his decision to award the Nix a first half penalty following intervention from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
The Sky Blues scored early in the second half and had their ‘keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares to thank for securing all three points.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen it so I actually can’t comment on it,” Greenacre said when asked post-match about the referee’s decision to overturn the penalty.
“I let the staff argue the toss with that one. I’m hearing that potentially it could have been, but I’ll have to see it again to make an informed decision.”
Greenacre made just one enforced change to the XI which started last week’s derby defeat with Corban Piper replacing suspended striker Ifeanyi Eze up front.
“As an athlete you know where your levels are, and we had a lot of people within the squad that needed to put things right.
“I think it was important to give them that chance to do that.
“Overall, I think they did. I think they left everything on the pitch, and it’s a good platform to build on going forward.”
Greenacre also stuck with Josh Oluwayemi in goal despite the ‘keeper having a derby to forget.
“I thought he was excellent. Up until yesterday I wasn’t sure who would start because all the ‘keepers have been terrific.
“Full credit for Eamonn [McCarron] and Alby [Kelly-Heald] they’ve really pushed Josh this week.
“[And] for him to show his resilience after, I’ve not read social media this week but, I can imagine what’s been going around.
“To bounce back like that I think it shows someone with a lot of steel and a lot of character.”
The Phoenix settled the quicker of the two sides and most of the first quarter of an hour was spent inside Sydney’s half.
However, all the Nix had to show for their ascendency was a fifth minute cross-come-shot from Carlo Armiento which fizzed over the goal from a tight angle and a long-range effort from Manjrekar James in the 14th minute which also sailed over the bar.
James produced a crucial touch a handful of minutes later when Sydney fullback Ben Garuccio cut into the box and unleashed their first shot of the contest.
Moments later Piper had Wellington’s best chance of the half. He got on the end of a defence-splitting pass from Ramy Najjarine but wasn’t able to beat Harrison Devenish-Meares in the Sky Blues’ goal.
The Phoenix continued to look the more threatening side and Kazuki Nagasawa was awarded a penalty shortly after the half hour mark when he was brought down in the box by Sydney captain Rhyan Grant.
The Video Assistant Referee advised referee Tim Danaskos to review his decision and after watching multiple replays he decided Nagasawa wasn’t fouled by Grant and retracted the penalty.
After a quiet spell Piper had another opportunity two minutes out from halftime following some tidy interplay between himself, Nagasawa and Armiento. Unfortunately for the Nix he couldn’t hook his shot on target, and it remained scoreless at the interval.
Sydney had their best passage at the start of the second half. Oluwayemi made his first save of the match in the 48th minute, pushing a header from Joe Lolley around his right post.
The Sky Blues took the lead soon after the resulting corner with Alexandar Popovic tapping home from a couple yards out.
Oluwayemi made another good save a couple of minutes later, this time to keep out a powerful shot from Garuccio at his near post.
Wellington came close to equalising in the 56th minute when Piper headed a right wing corner narrowly wide of the right hand post.
Shortly after the hour mark Bill Tuiloma tried the spectacular from the left edge of the Sydney penalty area but saw his volley rise over the bar.
Greenacre made his first substitution soon after, bringing on Luke Brooke-Smith in place of Nagasawa.
The match was stop-start for the next 10 minutes and there wasn’t any goalmouth action until Piper headed a Tuiloma long throw towards goal and it was comfortably held by the towering Devenish-Meares.
Piper was substituted soon after, with he and James making way for Nikola Mileusnic and Lukas Kelly-Heald.
Kelly-Heald made an almost immediate impact, heading a Matt Sheridan cross goalward only to be denied by a fantastic fingertip save from Devenish-Meares.
The Phoenix continued to push for an equaliser but weren’t able to threaten the Sky Blues’ goal again for the remainder of the 90 and seven minutes of stoppage time as Sydney held on to claim all three points.
The Wellington Phoenix will have little time to dwell on the defeat as they’re back in action against Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
Wellington Phoenix: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 3. Corban PIPER (10. Nikola MILEUSNIC 81st), 4. Manjrekar JAMES (18. Lukas KELLY-HEALD 81st), 8. Paulo RETRE, 11. Carlo ARMIENTO, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 20. Ramy NAJJARINE, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA (29. Luke BROOKE-SMITH 64th), 27. Matthew SHERIDAN, 28. Bill TUILOMA.
Unused substitutes: 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 12. Dan EDWARDS, 16. Sander KARTUM, 24. Xuan LOKE.
Sydney FC: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (gk), 5. Alex GRANT, 7. Piero QUISPE (9. Victor CAMPUZANO 46th), 10. Joe LOLLEY (35. Al Hassan TOURE 59th), 17. Ben GARUCCIO, 20. Tiago QUINTAL (36. Rhys YOULLEY 77th), 23. Rhyan GRANT (c), 24 Paul OKON JNR, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC (32. Marcel TISSERAND 87th), 70. Ahmet ARSLAN, 80. Apostolos STAMATELOPOULOS.
Unused substitutes: 30. Alexander ZAVERDINOS (gk), 11. Abel WALATEE, 22. Mathias MACALLISTER.
Goals:
41. Alexandar POPOVIC (Sydney FC) – 49th
Cards:
20. Ramy NAJJARINE (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 4th
14. Alex RUFER (c) (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 41st
15. Isaac HUGHES (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 60th
20. Tiago QUINTAL (Sydney FC) – yellow – 62nd
