A resurgent Wellington Phoenix have notched a third straight Isuzu UTE A-League win to bring newly crowned FFA Cup winners Melbourne Victory back down to earth in Wollongong.
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A 74th-minute goal from Reno Piscopo at WIN Stadium secured a 1-0 win for seventh-placed Wellington, who moved within one point of the top six after their first clean sheet of the ALM campaign.
Victory, who were backing up four nights after their cup win, stayed fourth.
It was their first defeat in their last 10 league and cup games and only their second from 15 this season, but have now gone three ALM games without a win.
The goal came from a defensive error by Jason Davidson, who gave the ball away to David Ball who charged into the area to set up Piscopo for his second goal in as many games.
Piscopo’s decider came against the run of play following Victory’s best spell of the game.
Victory forced Phoenix goalkeeper Oliver Sail to make three good saves in six minutes.
He tipped a Ben Folami shot around the post and blocked close range attempts from Josh Brillante and Marco Rojas, who a few minutes earlier came off the bench to make his 100th appearance for Victory.
After the sparkle of Victory’s FFA Cup final win highlighted by two fabulous goals, Wednesday’s game was decidedly flat especially in the first half.
Both teams struggled to create clear cut chances and lacked polish in the final third though Phoenix looked more dangerous in the latter stages of the half.
The vast majority of shots from both sides came from long range with most of them off target and neither goalkeeper troubled.
