With a dominant 90-minute performance, Wellington Phoenix deserved the win until they conceded a goal in the last 10 minutes of normal time.
Wellington Phoenix look like a much better side than they were a few months ago. While they have only won one game out of the eight games since the start of January this year, they look a lot more confident moving up the field and out the back.
Head coach Natalie Lawrence was struggling to explain how the Nix didn’t leave the capital with a victory.
“We’ve said it a few times this season that we deserve something out of the game but we deserved to win the game,” she said.
In all their games this year to date, Wellington have been in with a shot. They have been creating chances and constantly putting pressure on opposition backlines, with their finishing their let-down.
So was this Brisbane game no different?
Unfortunately no, the Phoenix had several chances on goal as they were constantly rattling the Roar backline. In fact, the Nix had 20 shots on-goal in the whole 90 minutes plus with only eight of them on target compared to the visitors 13 shots on-goal with 10 on target.
They were also very dominant on the possession-front, the hosts controlling 62% of the ball in the entire match compared to Brisbane’s 38% of the ball. Also Wellington completed 567 passes compared to the Roar’s 366.
These statistics show that the Phoenix had the game in their hands, their on-goal accuracy from last night painting the picture. A 1-1 draw had to do.
While the hosts remain bottom-of the table, they are only four-points off Newcastle Jets who sit above them and Lawrence is confident that her team can catch them.
“We are still in reach of them, we play them and we have two games in hand, so I feel like destiny is in our hands,” she said.
The top-four may be out of reach for the Nix, but it’s clear that the goal for Lawrence’s side is to not be the wooden-spoon team this season.
The good news for Wellington is that they met the Jets in a couple of weeks in Newcastle with Sydney FC away and Perth Glory at home the two up-and-coming games.
With the Sky Blues in third and the Glory in sixth, it will be a tough test for the Phoenix to grab maximum points particularly against Sydney who they will face next Saturday evening in Sydney.
But with the way the Nix played today, it gives themselves and their fans confidence that this team will be able to deliver and get off the wooden-spoon position. Will destiny be in Wellington Phoenix’s hands? We will find out.
Featured image credit: Photomac
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