It was another week of the same old for Wellington Phoenix as their defence conceded yet another goal in a 1-0 defeat to Adelaide United on Friday night.
Wellington have struggled all season long to keep goals out the back of their own net, but there are two ways to look at this latest game.
Did Adelaide underachieve against the league’s worst defence?
Or did Wellington have a stellar outing by conceding two goals less than their average?
The latter has merit as Wellington came into this game with 21 goals against them from their seven games, an average of three conceded goals per game.
Yet in the hot conditions in Adelaide, an undermanned Phoenix side managed to keep Adelaide to one goal.
It was a step in the right direction for the Nix after conceding 12 goals in their last three outings.
Phoenix fullback Zoe McMeeken said post-game that the match was a positive sign.
“We are a young side, and we are continuing to build,” she said.
Meanwhile, on the flip side, the prior argument has serious weight to it.
The Reds struggled to find the back of the net, as their quality in the final third has become an Achillies’ heel for them throughout the season.
Adelaide was able to have 17 shots, yet only directed four of them on target.
Adelaide came out like a bull at a gate as they injected a frantic pace to the game, which was spearheaded by outside midfielders in Emily Condon and Dylan Holmes.
However, it was the same old issue for the Reds as they struggled all first half to find the back of the net.
However, on a hot night against an undermanned defence, all fingers pointed towards a fiery Reds side in the second half, yet a lacklustre lull was all we saw.
Adelaide could not mount a meaningful attack that threatened the Phoenix, until a bit of chaos allowed Paige Hayward to open the scoring and find the back of the net for the Reds.
A game that has negatives and positives for both sides, but regardless. the Reds come away with the three points and take a big stride away from the bottom-half of the table.
Feature image credit: Speed Media/Icon Sportswire
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
