Wellington Phoenix are up into fourth on the Ninja A-League ladder after a Sabitra Bhandari masterclass helped them defeat Western Sydney Wanderers 3-0.
With Nepalese star ‘Samba’ Bhandari in town there was a huge crowd in attendance at Wanderers Football Park as Sydney’s Nepalese community clamoured to see their hero in action.
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Officially the home side despite the number of adopted Phoenix fans in the crowd, the Wanderers were desperate to make a good start at Wanderers Football Park but it was the visitors who stole the show in the seventh minute.
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Robbing the Wanderers of possession inside their own half, Wellington immediately worked the ball towards their opponents box and while Samba’s shot appeared to be whistling wide of the target it was instinctively diverted towards goal and into the back of the net by Emma Main.
Cheering every time Samba got on the ball, the crowd weren’t best pleased when the striker was caught late on the top of the foot by Wanderers defender Alana Cerne just a minute after Wellington took the lead.
The Wanderers eventually began to grow into the game and had several half chances to level things up, however they had goalkeeper Sham Khamis to thank for keeping the deficit at just one before the break as she got down low to tip a Grace Jale free kick round the post.
A constant threat on the night, Samba sent the crowd wild before half-time as she converted from close range but unfortunately for those inside Wanderers Football Park the goal was chalked off due to Main being offside in the build-up.
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However, whilst the raucous crowd were disappointed with that decision they soon exploded in Western Sydney as Samba finally got her goal just three minutes into the second half.
Lurking near the penalty spot, the Nepalese striker reacted quickest to a loose ball inside the area and cooly lashed the ball beyond Khamis to make it 2-0 before sprinting off in celebration.
And just four minutes later it was game over at Wanderers Football Park.
Flicking the ball beyond Wanderers midfielder Ying Wang on halfway, Samba then raced towards the opposition box and just when it looked as though she was about to pull the trigger, the Nepal star squared for Main to convert from close range to send the partizan crowd wild with joy.
On what was a thoroughly dissappointing night for the Wanderers, Geoff Abrahams’ side officially registered their first shot on target in the 85th minute as captain Amy Harrison curled a free kick straight into the arms of Wellington goalkeeper Victoria Esson.
Defeat for the Wanderers leaves them sat rock bottom of the Ninja A-League after eight matches.
Meanwhile the win for Wellington is their first away victory of the season and they now sit fourth on the ladder after chalking up back-to-back wins.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT THEY SAID
Hear from Wanderers goalkeeper Sham Khamis after her side’s 3-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix.
Emma Main bagged two goals at Wanderers Football Park on Tuesday night to help her side win 3-0. She spoke to Paramount+ after the game.
