Wellington Phoenix have continued their great away form and solidified their second place on the ladder as they defeated Adelaide United 2-1 on Friday night.
Adelaide United got off to the better start and Cameron Watson had a good chance in the opening minute after a good run down the right but he couldn't connect with anyone as his cross went over the bar.
The Reds got their lead in the tenth minute even though Dario Vidosic was disposessed in the penalty area Bruce Djite was able to react fastest and mop up sending the ball in to the bottom right corner to give the hosts the lead.
Djite almost got his brace straight away, as Adelaide regained possession and attacked, Djite was only denied by a desparate goal line clearance.
The attacks continued, and the Reds could well have had two in a minute as Vidosic sent in a wonderful freekick for Djite but he couldn't reach it, Cassio came in and got it past Mark Paston but could only hit the post.
After surviving more Adelaide attacking in a frantic three minutes Wellington drew level in the 13th minute as the Adelaide defense failed to mark Tim Brown tightly allowing him to recieve Paul Ifil's pass and score from close range.
Adelaide kept the pressure up and tried to restore their lead, five minutes later Nigel Boogaard sent his header over the bar before Vidosic's 21st minute strike was easily cleared by Chris Greenacre.
The hosts still kept hunting a goal to restore their lead and Djite made a good cross in the 28th minute but van Dijk timed his run poorly and couldn't get on the header before Iain Ramsay saw his deflected shot go just wide in the 32nd minute.
Osama Malik gave away what seemed like a safe freekick earning a yellow card for stopping Manny Muscat's advance but it turned out to be fatal as Alex Smith sent in the set-piece and the Reds again failed to clear allowing Dani Sanchez to score with a great chipped header.
The Reds came out in the second half determined, Cassio, who was returning from injury nearly had the equalizer in the 53rd minute as he sent in a powerful freekick from 30 yards only to be denied by a great save from Paston.
Adelaide United really controlled the second half but for all their possession they struggled to make any real inroads against a solid Wellington Phoenix defense.
As a result it was the Phoenix who had the better chances and Ifil nearly put his side 3-1 up against the run of play in the 65th minute only to put his strike just over the bar.
Just eight minutes later Ifil had another chance, making another good run and unleashing a powerful volley that beat Galekovic but only came off the crossbar.
Adelaide United came back late, with another chance in the 76th minute as Djite sent in a good cross for Zenon Caravella but he fell while trying to make the play.
Ben Sigmund was lucky to not be sent off late as he brought down Djite who was clean through but there was payback later when Ifil was denied a blatant penalty as he was pulled down from behind by Eugene Galekovic.
Djite tried to seal the match late in to stoppage time and sent his shot in that beat the keeper but was sent across the face of goal.
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