A long-range strike from Ulises Dávila and Liberato Cacace’s first goal of the season saw the Wellington Phoenix equal their longest ever unbeaten run.
The game started off quickly with both sides having chances, although Wellington were so far the better of the two sides.
The Kiwi club were having more luck when it came to getting their shots actually off, and it showed in the ninth minute when Dávila’s shot from range bounced off the post.
Just six minutes later, a very similar sort of move from the Mexican magician gave him the result he wanted, as Dávila’s goal put Wellington 1-0 up.
Dávila collected the ball well outside of the box, went on a brief run before unleashing a powerful shot that whistled into the bottom corner.
It was Dávila’s ninth goal of the season, as the Mexican continued to show why he is one of the A-League’s best.
The game then cooled in terms of shots and attempts following the goal, and despite sporadic efforts from both sides, Wellington would lead 1-0 at the break.
The second half started in a similar way as the first did – both sides having good, early, chances. Gary Hooper had his shot (albeit offside) bounce off the post, while Patrick Ziegler sent one of his shots wide.
But as the half went on, in what was becoming a common theme for the Wanderers, the Western Sydney side was commonly getting into dangerous positions with very little end product.
The Sydney side had definitely improved from the first half, yet they couldn’t make it matter when it mattered.
Nicolai Muller came close for the Wanderers with a shot that was a near replica of Dávila’s goal – although his went just a tad too wide.
The game seemed to be winding down to a slow end, but Cacace had other ideas. The young left-back made an amazing run down the left-hand side, cut into the box, and sent his shot in despite Wanderers goalie Daniel Lopar managing to connect with it.
The defeat was the Wanderer’s second in a row, and puts more pressure on them as they struggle to get their season back on track. Meanwhile, the win takes Wellington’s unbeaten streak up to nine games and up to third place.
Contrasting fortunes.
Wellington Phoenix: 2 (Dávila ‘15, Cacace 88′)
Western Sydney Wanderers: 0
Sky Stadium
Attendance: 9166
Referee: Adam Kersey
Assistant Referees: Mark Rule, Sarah Jones
Fourth Official: Kate Jacewicz
VAR: Nick Waldron
Wellington Phoenix: Stefan MARINOVIC (GK), Luke DEVERE, Matti STEINMANN, Tim PAYNE, Cameron DEVLINl, Ulises DÁVILA (Te Atawhai HUDSON-WIHONGI 93′), Jaushua SOTIRIO (Sam SUTTON 67’), Liberato CACACE, Callum MCCOWATT, Steven TAYLOR (C), Gary HOOPER (Ben WAINE 79′)
Unused subs: Oliver SAIL (GK), Liam MCGING, Callan ELLIOT, Walter SCOTT
Western Sydney Wanderers: Daniel LOPAR (GK), Dylan MCGOWAN, Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, Matt JURMAN, Mitch DUKE (C), Nicolai MULLER, Pirmin SCHWEGLER (Nicholas SULLIVAN 62’), Kwame YEBOAH (Ali AUGLAH 84′) Tate RUSSELL, Patrick ZIEGLER, Mohamed ADAM (Kostadinos GROZOS 62’)
Unused subs: Nicholas SUMAN (GK), Tarek ELRICH, Naoh PAGDEN, Dean PELEKANOS
Featured image credit: Cameron McIntosh
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