Phoenix surpasses Perth Glory at Bankwest Stadium

At Bankwest Stadium, Glory met Phoenix in the second game of both sides since the return from COVID-19 break. A different Perth Glory than usual, fielding the 16-year-old attacker Gabriel Popovic, made it hard for Wellington Phoenix to grab a very important win. The team coached by Ufuk Talay seemed dangerous since the start of the match – the Mexican star Ulises Davila started from the bench, but the English marksman Gary Hooper partnered upfront with his compatriot David Ball. Cameron Devlin made his return to the starting eleven in the midfield playing alongisde Matti Steinmann – the surprise of the night in the starting eleven was the New Zealand international Callum McCowatt that started in the right flank.

Phoenix did not have the possession of the ball in the early stages of the match, but Glory could not create any harm despite having the ball. Some runs of Reno Piscopo and Liberato Cacace posed some threats for the defensive system of the coach Tony Popovic, but the scoreline would just be opened when McCowatt assisted Gary Hooper – a fantastic long range pass that found Hooper coming from the defensive half of the pitch, upfront the back three of Perth Glory. The striker made no mistake in front of the goalkeeper Liam Reddy to put Phoenix up by 1-0.

Glory pressed for a fast equalizer, but could not create real goalscoring chances. The Uruguyan striker Bruno Fornaroli made Stefan Marinovic to make a couple of hard stops still in the first half, but nothing the Kiwi number one goalkeeper could deal not with.

The 1-0 lead was the scoreline for Phoenix in the break, but it changed just after the return of both sides for the game: David Ball in a brilliant move was fouled down inside the box – a penalty kick was awarded for the New Zealand club. The newly introduced Davila made no mistake from the penalty spot to score his 12th goal of the season and the second of the Nix in the match.

A much better Ulises Davila than in the latest match against Sydney posed a lot of threats for defensive line led by Alex Grant. Phoenix created a number of chances after scoring their second goal – Ball sent a terrific finish above the bar, Davila and Ball almost combined inside the box for a third goal, while a Cacace’s cross could not find the target inside the area.

The story of the game changed when Nicolas D’Agostino received a short-corner pass and found the New Zealand international Dane Ingham free to fire away a fantastic shot – the ball was lightly deflected in Libby Cacaces’s right leg, finding the tight right corner of Stefan Marinovic’s goal; Perth was back to the game.

Minutes after scoring, a mistake by Devlin allowed a quick counter-attack of Glory – Fornaroli tried his trademark shot lobbying Marinovic, but unfortunately for him the ball went in the arms of the New Zealand international shot-stopper. Talay tried to change the things introducing Jaushua Sotirio in place of Reno Piscopo, but the speedy attacker could not have any counter-attacking chance to approach.

In the 83th minute, Phoenix tactician decided to ‘park the bus’ introducing the New Zealand defender Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi in place of Callum McCowatt. The strategy proved right as Hudson-Wihongi cleared a number of balsl from the penalty box, helping Phoenix to clinch very important three points in the A-League table.

A much better presentation for Phoenix in comparison to their latest match against Sydney – especially in defense – allowed the New Zealanders to get closer to Melbourne City in the ladder. The club is just one-point away from City in the standings; the Nix still has one match to be played in comparison with the Melbourne-based side.

Phoenix next challenge will be against Adeilade United this Saturday at the same Bankwest Stadium at 5pm local time.