Wellington Phoenix pulled off a huge upset on Saturday evening after claiming a 3-2 win over Newcastle Jets in a roller coaster game at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Phoenix were looking to continue their resurgent run of form after grabbing four points from their last two games but it would be no easy task against their second-placed hosts who had put them two the sword in the same fixture in round five.
Jack Duncan had an earlier return than expected for the Jets after starting in place of Glen Moss who was benched as a precaution following a hip flexor problem.
It was Newcastle who carved out the first real chance of the game as Steven Ugarkovic played through Daniel Georgievski with the right back opting unsuccessfully to square the ball to Jason Hoffman before seeing his follow up shot well saved by Lewis Italiano.
Phoenix silenced the home fans in the 28th minute thanks to a Matija Ljujic cross-cum-shot that drifted past the static Jets defence before nestling in the bottom corner past a hapless Duncan.
The shell-shocked Jets had no answer in the minutes following Phoenix’s opener and were punished again as sloppy marking from a corner gave former Jet Daniel Mullen a simple header in front of Duncan to double the lead.
Half time came at just the right time for Newcastle who looked a different side after the break.
They pulled a goal back almost immediately after a cheeky back-heel from Patricio Rodriguez found an open Georgievski who squared to Andrew Nabbout and the striker made no mistake to calmly slot the ball past Italiano.
Newcastle were temporarily reduced to 10-men with Nigel Boogaard off the field receiving treatment for a knock to the head and the Nix took full advantage, restoring their two goal lead as Roy Krishna was given time and space in the box to measure a perfectly curled shot into the corner of the net.
It was Krishna again just minutes later who almost put the game to bed when his long-range effort cannoned off the crossbar denying him a quickfire double.
The Jets were given a glimmer of hope just five minutes from time when they were awarded a penalty for a tug on the shirt of youngster Angus Thurgate. Dimitri Petratos saw his resulting penalty creep into the back of the net after his shot brushed the fingertips of Italiano.
There was to be no miracle comeback for the Jets however who now face a challenging away trip to Melbourne City on Thursday while Phoenix will look to continue their resurgent season when they welcome Adelaide United to Wellington next Saturday.
Newcastle Jets 2 (Nabbout 48’, Petratos 86’pen.)
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Ljujic 28’, Mullen 37’, Krishna 59’)
McDonald Jones Stadium (10,877)
Referee: Jarred GILLETT
Assistant Referees: Ryan GALLAGHER & James CLEAL
Fourth Official: Ben ABRAHAM
VAR: Strebre DELOVSKI
Newcastle Jets:
1.DUNCAN Jack, 3. HOFFMAN Jason (24. CHAMPNESS Joseph 65’), 4. BOOGAARD Nigel (C), 6. UGARKOVIC Steven, 7. PETRATOS Dimitri, 10. BROWN Wayne (5. KANTAROVSKI Ben 65’), 11. RODRIGUEZ Patricio (32. THURGATE Angus 72’), 13. VUJICA Ivan, 15. NABBOUT Andrew, 17. GEORGIEVSKI Daniel, 44. TOPOR-STANLEY Nikolai
Substitutes: 20. MOSS Glen (GK), 22. JACKSON Lachlan
Wellington Phoenix:
1. ITALIANO Lewis (GK), 2. MULLEN Daniel (3. GALLOWAY Scott, 46’), 4. PARACKI Goran, 7. BURNS Nathan, 8. LJUJIC Matija (14. RUFER Alex 67’), 9. KALUDJEROVIC Andrija (12. PARKHOUSE Adam 87’), 10. MCGLINCHEY Michael, 13. ROSSI Marco, 19. DOYLE Thomas, 21. KRISHNA Roy, 22. DURANTE Adam (C), 23. RIDENTON Matthew
Substitutes: 30. SMITH Keegan (GK), 18. SINGH Sarpreet
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