Western Sydney got one step closer to the A-League Premiership on Sunday afternoon as they recorded a 2-1 victory over Wellington Phoenix at Parramatta Stadium.
The win equals an Australian National League record of nine straight wins as Western Sydney match the mark of Sydney Olympic and South Melbourne from the National Soccer League.
Western Sydney got handed the perfect start in the 8th minute as Tony Lochhead brought down Labinot Haliti allowing Shinji Ono to step up to spot and score the opening goal thanks to a penalty.
After being on the back foot early on, midway through the second half Wellington sprung in to action and on their first meaningful attack they had an equalizer.
Leo Bertos sent the ball across the face of goal which allowed Jeremy Brockie to run on to the ball and tap it home to stun the league leaders.
From there Wellington controlled the possession throughout the rest of the half as Wanderers continued their trend of seeing less of the ball but Wellington struggled to create clear chances as the teams headed to the break level.
Western Sydney woke up after the break and barely three minutes in got another penalty after Vince Lia bizarrely handled a harmless looking cross, which allowed Mark Bridge to step up and put the hosts back in front.
Wanderers looked much better in the second half as Haliti continued to have chances while Nikolai Topor-Stanley could have doubled the lead as he was left free but sent his header right in to Glenn Moss’ waiting arms.
Needing a win to keep their finals hopes alive Wellington woke up in the final 15 minutes of the half and started to threaten again.
Wellington had one last chance to find an equalizer when Corey Gameiro hit a powerful volley that was hit right at Ante Covic, allowing Western Sydney to win 2-1.
The win pushes Western Sydney Wanderers five points clear at the top of the table and with three games to play only a disaster will separate the club from the regular season crown.
For all the latest Australian Football news please subscribe and follow the writer on twitter.
Comments