Melbourne Victory returned to winning ways while heaping further misery on Wellington Phoenix in a hard-fought 1-0 triumph in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Greek forward Nikos Vergos’ 57th-minute header settled the Round 19 contest on a wet Friday night at AAMI Park after Victory were stunned by Newcastle Jets last time out.
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On a night Victory celebrated their 20-year anniversary, Wellington’s Melbourne hoodoo extended to 23 matches without a win – a drought spanning eight years in the city having not won since 2017.
Last season’s Grand Finalists Victory climb up to third in the standings, while the Phoenix are 10th and six points adrift of the top six.
The Phoenix travelled to Melbourne desperate to end their hoodoo. They had gone 22 games without a win in the state, while they had only won three times in 38 visits to AAMI Park.
“I don’t know if it’s the dimension of the pitch,” head coach Giancarlo Italiano joked before the match. “I don’t know if they poison our water when we go there, I don’t know what it is, but it’s going to be a big game.”
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On the field, Victory were suffocated by the Phoenix in a testing opening 45 minutes, with chances few and far between.
Arthur Diles turned to his Victory bench during the interval, bringing on Santos and Daniel Arzani at the expense of Nishan Velupillay and Reno Piscopo.
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And it paid off almost immediately after Santos teed up Vergos for the 57th-minute opener. With rain pouring down in Melbourne, the Brazilian substitute picked out Vergos, who headed into the back of the net.
That was a dagger through the heart of Wellington’s approach on the road, though the visitors nearly equalised 20 minutes from the end.
Without a shot on target throughout the contest, Tim Payne’s delightful ball across the six-yard box found Kosta Barbarouses but Victory goalkeeper Mitch Langerak put his body on the line to save the day.
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Victory had two chances in stoppage time to seal the result, but they wasted both. However, they still held on for maximum points.
