Wellington Phoenix are a completely different side to the one who drew against Brisbane in Round 2 and the travelling side found out the hard way.
Steven Taylor thought he had scored his second Hyundai A-League goal when Tom Doyle launched a long throw into the box but Avraam Papadopoulos’s own goal was headed over Brisbane Roar Goalkeeper Jamie Young and into the net to give Wellington Phoenix the lead.
Mandi Sosa and Alex Rufer were running the midfield, trying to set Roy Krishna free in behind only for the Brisbane Roar backline to stand up strong and deny the free scoring striker.
Moments before half time and Brisbane Roar struck to equalise. A dangerous ball into the box from the right wing came to Henrique who slotted it beyond Filip Kurto and into the top left corner.
Rewind a couple of weeks ago and Wellington Phoenix may have felt deflated but not this week.
Brisbane came out in the second half the stronger team but failed to convert that confidence in to any real chances.
Their best chance came to Adam Taggart who spurned the opportunity to give his side the lead. A smart ball split the Wellington Phoenix backline and it fell to Taggart who only had to get his shot on target but he slipped and Kurto cleared the danger.
David Williams came on in place of Nathan Burns and it wasn’t long until the former Socceroo was making an impact.
Sarpreet Singh drove at the Brisbane backline before being taken down, but the referee waved play on and Williams latched on to the loose ball. He curled his effort into the far post from outside the 18-yard box to regain the lead.
Seconds later, Doyle was brought down inside the box and Krishna made short work of the resulting penalty. His 37th goal placed into the right bottom corner to further dent Brisbane’s hopes of a comeback.
Wellington Phoenix were on top and Singh capped off a fantastic performance with a goal. His free kick went through the Brisbane wall and into the bottom corner of Young’s net.
It was a great night of football and one to remember for all Wellington Phoenix fans as it marked the 100th Hyundai A-League win.
FULL TIME | ? Fantastic win by your #Nix to make it 3 wins in a row. This is the best Xmas present surely…!
#StandUpWithYourNix #CreateHistory #WELvBRI pic.twitter.com/vEvXMzg7gK
— Wellington Phoenix (@WgtnPhoenixFC) December 22, 2018
Full-Time Highlights here.
Starting XI
1.Filip KURTO, 4. Mandi SOSA, 9. Nathan BURNS, 13. Liberate CACACE, 14. Alex RUFER, 16. Louis FENTON, 18. Sarpreet SINGH, 19. Tom DOYLE, 21. Roy KRISHNA, 22. Andrew DURANTE, 27. Steven TAYLOR
Wellington Phoenix Substitutions
60’ OFF 9. Nathan BURNS ON 11. David WILLIAMS
90+3’ OFF 18. Sarpreet SINGH ON 23. Max BURGESS
Brisbane Roar Substitutions
61’ OFF 22. Tobias MIKKELSEN ON 20. Shannon BRADY
65’ OFF 33. Henrique ON 26. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO
80’ OFF 17. Matthew McKay ON 23. Dylan WENZEL HALLS
Next Match Details
Melbourne Victory vs. Wellington Phoenix, Friday 28th December, 9:50pm (NZT), AAMI Park
