Danny Vukovic believes Sydney FC’s fitness was the reason by their late win over Wellington Phoenix but admits his side got lucky at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.
The Sky Blues absorbed plenty of pressure from the home side in an absorbing contest, before snatching all three points thanks to Milos Ninkovic’s stoppage-time winner.
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“I think Wellington played exceptionally well today. It was a bit of a smash and grab there at the end,” Vukovic conceded to ABC Radio.
“But to keep a clean sheet at a place that is always a tough place to come, we’re happy with the three points.
“We were giving the ball away a bit too much in the first half and Arnie [coach Graham Arnold] wanted us to keep the ball a bit more and not panic when we had it and I think we did that in the second half.
“We had a lot more possession than we did in the first half so it’s a great three points for us and we sit atop the table now.”
Phoenix dominated large periods of the match, especially in the first half, and twice had the ball in the back of the net in with both efforts ruled out for off-side.
But Sydney did get stronger as the match went on, with substitutes Matt Simon and Alex Brosque making a big impact when introduced.
And Simon was involved in the winner as Ninkovic side-footed home from close range to make it three wins out of three for Sydney to sit two points clear at the top of the Hyundai A-League ladder.
“We had the ascendancy there the last 25 minutes. Our fitness is very good, we worked very hard on that in the pre-season and it seems to be the last 20 minutes we come into games,” Vukovic said.
“It’s a perfect start. It’s what we wanted, we want to be out in front and have everyone chasing us and we’ve started off well.
“We just need to maintain that now.”
The Sky Blues are on the road again next weekend, taking on Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday.
