Wellington Phoenix have climbed into the top six for the first time this season following a dominant 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory at Westpac Stadium on Tuesday night.
A sliding finish from Roly Bonevacia opened the scoring in the re-scheduled Round 7 clash, with Jacob Tratt and Kosta Barbarouses icing the result late on.
The home side showed their attacking intent from the kick-off, with Barbarouses playing a one-two ball to create an opportunity to shoot after just 30 seconds.
Wellington’s high-octane attack continued to cause problems for Victory, with some trickery from Bonevacia almost causing Nick Ansell to deflect the ball into his own net.
The Dutchman would break the deadlock shortly after with the 25-year-old midfielder showing great desire to get on the end of a Roy Krishna cross.
It took until the hour mark for Victory to have their first shot on target, with a corner variation finding Leigh Broxham deep at the back post.
The left back’s volley was destined for the top corner but he was denied by a spectacular full stretch save from Glen Moss.
Marco Rojas also had a chance to equalise but headed wide of the post, instead it was the Phoenix who took their chances late on with Tratt and Barbarouses putting an exclamation mark on an emphatic win.
The result sees Phoenix move up to fifth on the ladder and they’ll look to make it three home wins in a week when they welcome the Roar on Saturday.
Meanwhile Victory’s six-game winning run has come to an end, with Kevin Muscat set to be without Jason Geria and Fahid Ben Khalfallah for his side’s trip to Perth after the pair picked up their fifth yellow cards of the campaign.
Catch up with all the action at the match centre
GOALS
1-0 Wellington Phoenix: Roly Bonevacia, 33’
The Dutch midfielder got on the end of an inviting cross from Roy Krishna, sliding in on the six-yard line to deflect it home and register his first goal of the season.
2-0 Wellington Phoenix: Jacob Tratt, 90’
The lanky defender showed great courage to get on the end of a cross from Michael McGlinchey, heading strongly to score his first ever Hyundai A-League goal.
3-0 Wellington Phoenix: Kosta Barbarouses, 90+3’
The New Zealand international did it all himself, winning the ball on half-way before making a beeline towards goal and firing strongly past Lawrence Thomas.
Re-live the action on Twitter
@ALeague, @WgtnPhoenixFC, @gomvfc, #WELvMVC
