The Wellington Phoenix have emphatically bounced back from their first defeat of the Isuzu UTE A-League season.
Japanese forward Hideki Ishige has inspired the Phoenix to a resounding 3-0 win over the reigning champion Central Coast Mariners at Industree Group Stadium in Gosford.
Ishige scored an early goal of the season contender before setting up Kosta Barbarouses and Sam Sutton for Wellington’s second and third either side of halftime.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was stoked with how his side bounced back from last week’s derby defeat.
“The group showed that they are very resilient,” Italiano told media post-match. “There’s a lot of fight in this team.
“They were disappointed last week…and I spoke about maturity during the week and they responded fantastically.
“We changed the pressing structure. We decided about a day and a half ago. With limited training time…they took the information on board and executed to perfection.
“I thought Ishige was fantastic on the left side blocking the passing lane to the wingback, which was something we’d identified.”
Ishige’s stunning 30 metre free-kick to open the scoring was no surprise to Italiano.
“If you watch him at training, set pieces in the minus one, he bangs one in every week.
“Jordi Manning, who looks after attacking set pieces, just reinforces how good those free-kicks are.
“And honestly I can’t recall the amount of direct free-kicks we’ve had in the last couple of years and we’ve had three or four now in the last couple of weeks. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy almost.”
Giancarlo Italiano made one change to his starting XI, naming Paulo Retre to make his Phoenix debut in place of Fin Roa Conchie who played for the reserves in their 4-3 win over Auckland City in the National League Championship earlier on Sunday.
The game flowed early with neither team able to exert consistent control. Kazuki Nagasawa and Retre had early sighters from distance but couldn’t test Dylan Peraic-Cullen in the home side’s goal.
The Phoenix opened the scoring in remarkable fashion. When a free kick was awarded in the 15th minute, it looked to be too far to shoot from. But aided by a strong southerly, Hideki Ishige blasted the ball into the top right corner from 30 odd metres to open his A-League account in style.
The Mariners sprung into life after conceding, forcing Josh Oluwayemi to palm away strongly when Sasha Kuzevski shot from a tight angle.
Vitor Feijão was next to go close for Central Coast, firing over the bar after the ball rebounded kindly to him at the edge of the box.
Instead the Nix doubled their lead from a clinical counter-attack in the 38th minute. Nagasawa slipped Ishige in behind and he squared it for Barbarouses to tap into an empty net. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR intervened to confirm the goal.
The period until halftime was marked only by a succession of fouls from the frustrated Mariners, which earned both Alfie McCalmont and Mikael Doka yellow cards.
A third for the Phoenix swiftly followed shortly after the break, with an unlikely source making it 3-0 in the 53rd minute.
Neat interplay between Sam Sutton, Barbarouses, and Ishige sent Sutton through on goal, and he calmly tucked the ball home for his first A-League goal in more than two years.
Italiano turned to his bench on the hour mark to see out the match with Mo Al-Taay and Nathan Walker entering in place of Retre and Matt Sheridan.
As Central Coast pushed for a goal, counter attacking lanes continued to open up for Wellington, who were unlucky not to create another substantial opportunity.
There was some concern for Kosta Barbarouses when he hobbled off in the 69th minute after an awkward landing and was replaced by Stefan Colakovski.
Substitute Bailey Brandtman nearly pulled one back for the home team three minutes later, with Isaac Hughes bravely deflecting his shot over the crossbar.
Brandtman went even closer almost immediately when Doka found him in space inside the box, but Oluwayemi kept his clean sheet, making an excellent save with an outstretched leg.
The only clear sight of goal late on for the hosts saw Alou Kuol fail to get enough power on his 82nd minute header, despite being well placed to score.
The Nix appeared happy to cede possession to Central Coast in the closing exchanges, and were resolute in restricting the Mariners to low-percentage potshots as they comfortably saw out their second away win of the season.
The Wellington Phoenix will return to action after the international break in Sydney where they will face top of the table Melbourne Victory in the Unite Round.
Wellington Phoenix: 1. Josh OLUWAYEMI (gk), 4. Scott WOOTTON, 6. Tim PAYNE, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES (11. Stefan COLAKOVSKI 69th), 8. Paulo RETRE (12. Mo AL-TAAY 60th), 9. Hideki ISHIGE, 14. Alex RUFER (c), 15. Isaac HUGHES, 19. Sam SUTTON, 25. Kazuki NAGASAWA, 27. Matt SHERIDAN (41. Nathan WALKER 60th).
Unused substitutes: 30. Alby KELLY-HEALD (gk), 3. Corban PIPER, 21. Marco ROJAS, 24. Oskar VAN HATTUM.
Central Coast Mariners: 40. Dylan PERAIĆ-CULLEN (gk), 3. Brian KALTAK (c), 8. Alfie MCCALMONT, 10. Mikael DOKA, 11. Vitor FEIJÃO (9. Alou KUOL 46th), 12. Lucas MAURAGIS, 16. Harrison STEELE (36. Haine EAMES 67th), 24. Diesel HERRINGTON (17. Sabit NGOR 46th), 27. Sasha KUZEVSKI (15. Storm ROUX 83rd), 33. Nathan PAULL, 99. Ryan EDMONDSON (37. Bailey BRANDTMAN 67th).
Unused substitutes: 30. Jack WARSHAWSKY (gk), 5. Noah SMITH.
Goals:
9. Hideki ISHIGE (Wellington Phoenix) – 15th
7. Kosta BARBAROUSES (Wellington Phoenix) – 38th
19. Sam SUTTON (Wellington Phoenix) – 53rd
Cards:
27. Sasha KUZEVSKI (Central Coast Mariners) – yellow – 6th
19. Sam SUTTON (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 34th
10. Mikael DOKA (Central Coast Mariners) – yellow – 45th
8. Alfie MCCALMONT (Central Coast Mariners) – yellow – 45+2
25. Kazuki NAGASAWA (Wellington Phoenix) – yellow – 58th
