Wellington Phoenix 3-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
Despite the Wellington Phoenix making light work of the travelling Western Sydney Wanderers it came at a cost with Roy Krishna’s sending off.
In what was an emotional weekend for many New Zealanders – all players and officials huddled together for a moment’s silence before the match.
After a commanding victory last week – the Phoenix continued where they left off as Roy Krishna opened the scoring in the 12th minute, opening his body to curl the ball into the side-net of the far post.
The home side then doubled their soon after – in emphatic fashion – as Mandi let loose from a 30-yard set-piece which left Wanderers goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic motionless.
Knowing full well how dangerous a two-nil score-line can be – the Phoenix added a third in the 33rd minute through David Williams which set the visitors a herculean task heading into the second half.
The Wanderers were handed a lifeline midway through the second half when they were awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute but failed to convert.
The video assistant awarded the penalty, however Alexander Baumjohann missed altogether, summing up the night for the Wanderers.
Though the visitors did find a goal – albeit a mere consolation – as Oriol Riera combined with January signing Mitchell Duke in the 86th minute.
The result was soured for the Phoenix as Krishna was given two bookings in five minutes, resulting in his sending off and one-match ban.
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Sydney FC 0-2 Melbourne City
A Shayon Harrison double may just have secured Melbourne City’s place in this season’s finals series.
Travelling to Leichardt Oval to face second placed Sydney FC was not going to be an easy task for the underperforming Melbourne City.
An uneventful contest was brought to life in the 62nd minute when Harrison opened his A-League goal scoring account after slipping one past Andrew Redmayne.
The Tottenham Hotspur loanee soon had a second – though it may have been recorded as an own goal – after his acrobatic volley bounced off the knee of Paulo Retre, sealing the win for the visitors.
A positive result and sigh of relief for City who now sit seven points clear of seventh placed Newcastle Jets.
Sydney FC meanwhile find themselves just one point ahead of the third placed Melbourne Victory as the race for second place heats up.
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