Controversial referee calls and silly mistakes mark Phoenix defeat to Sydney

Wellington Phoenix fans can not be happy on the result of the very first competitive football match of the club after the COVID-19 pandemic. Phoenix got beaten by Sydney by 3-1 – a mix of bad luck, controversial referee calls and silly mistakes of the Nix marked a night to be forgotten.

The team stars Gary Hooper and Ulises Davila started from the bench, Jaushua Sotirio and Ben Waine took their spots in the starting team. Both Hooper and Davila recently joined Phoenix after being a long period in their home countries. The first half saw both sides lost some opportunities – New Zealand’s first choice goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic was impressive with some important shot-stops in the first half. The likes of Reno Piscopo and David Ball were dangerous to Syndey’s defense, but despite some good chances created by both sides, the result at the break was locked into 0-0.

The story of the game seemed to be the same in the second half; Kosta Barbarouses was dangerous for Sydney alongside Milos Ninkovic and Adam le Fondre. Reno Piscopo was in a good night, being always a threat for Syndey’s backline. The introduction of Callum McCowatt in the half time in place of Ben Waine seemed to give more pace and creativity to Phoenix.

The things suddenly change in the match when Liberato Cacace was fouled inside the box by Ryan McGowan – a perfect call by the referee. The young talented Australian youth international Reno Piscopo made no mistake from the penalty spot and give a much needed lead for the New Zealand-based club. Just after the goal, Piscopo made room for Gary Hooper and Ulises Davila was also introduced in place of Jaushua Sotirio.

It was an unfortunate night for Davila as one of his first touches in the match was a handball inside the box; the referee awarded a penalty to Sydney as the Mexican failed to control the ball and it touched his arm inside the penalty area. Adam le Fondre gave no chances to Marinovic as he put Sydney back to the game.

A controversial call for the assistant referee happened when the Mexican Ulises Davila finished to the goal, the ball was deflected on Hooper and it ended up in the back of the net. It could had been the second goal of the Nix, but the assistant referee put his flag up to show Hooper was in an offside position. One of the measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the A-League is the no usage of the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) until the end of the current season; the call should had been overtuned if the VAR was there as Gary Hooper seemed not to be in offside as TV images shown during the clash.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, another mistake of Davila – giving away possesion in the middle of park – allowed Ninkovic to release the sub Trent Buhagiar free – the attacker passed Marinovic, Steven Taylor and put Sydney ahead already inside the 80th minute mark. Marinovic might be blamed for leaving his goal too early, being driblled by Sydney’s striker and allowing an almost empty net finish. Two minutes later, the same Buhagiar was released in an one-on-one situation with Marinovic, the goalkeeper could save the first shot, but Buhagiar approached the rebound and it chipped it over the defenders to score the third for Sydney: three mistakes, three goals allowed.

The result breaks the four winning-streak run of Wellington Phoenix in the league, but the team continues placed in the 3rd position in the ladder. The New Zealand-based side will take on Perth Glory next Wednesday (22th Jul) at BankWest Stadium.