Oli Sail Sinks The Nix

After a poor start to the A-League season the Western Sydney Wanderers travelled down the Princes Motorway to face the Wellington Phoenix in the wind and rain of a beach-side Wollongong fixture, picking up a scrappy & fierce 2-0 win to catapult the side into 2nd place on the back of some questionable decisions from Wellington keeper Oliver Sail.

Due to the ongoing border closures & quarantine requirements Wellington once again are based in Wollongong and a large contingent of Wanderers supporters made the journey to The Gong. Carl Robinson made changes from the 2-2 draw with Newcastle, dropping Ramy Najjarine and Dimi Petratos in favour of Japanese import Kejiro Ogawa and English star Jack Rodwell, both foreign players making their A-League starting debuts. Wellington started the season with a draw against Macarthur and a 2-1 win against the Central Coast, as part of a 13 game unbeaten streak that stretches all the way back to a 3-2 loss against Melbourne City in Round 15 of last season. Former Wanderer Jaushua Sotirio was a late injury dropout with an ankle strain.

After a fast and furious opening David Ball struck a long half volley following Adama Traore's weak header. It sat up nicely but his strike was well off target and lacked the pace required even if it were toward the goal. There was a short delay in the 15th minute as Thomas Aquilina and goalkeeper Tomas Mejias collided heavily. Aquilina was then put into the book by Stephen Lucas despite clearly winning the ball in the midfield. From the free kick the Nix played a strange set of up and down passes then fired in a low cross that skimmed off the turf and luckily deflected off a Wanderer to take it away from the feet of Rufer who was rushing into the area at the back post.

Wellington thought they had the opening goal in the 31st minute after a scramble in the penalty area. From a corner the Wanderers keeper flew out of the net and missed completely. The nix headed it towards goal, only for the ball to bounce from Gary Hooper to Josh Laws who turned it home rather that letting the ball spin into the net. After a discussion the offside flag went up and was confirmed by VAR that when Hooper touched the ball Laws had been played offside due to Mejias rushing out for the missed punch.

As half-time approached Aquilina made an impact, recovering the ball deep in the Wellington defensive zone, he combined with Tomer Hemed to turn the ball back into the area but it was cleared by the Nix defence. Bernie Ibini remained down on the pitch with an apparent ankle knock, he hobbled back to his feet. In the dying seconds of the half Reno Piscopo had a half-chance after Williams lost a midfield duel, the striker beating Aquilina for pace and hitting a left foot shot off-target. All the huffing and puffing from the two teams couldn't blow their opponents houses down and the sides went back into the sheds locked at nil all.

Johnny Koutroumbis began an attack early in the 2nd half, releasing Traore down the left flank, the fullback beating his man and coming back to find Ibini with a cutback, the resulting shot being hit into the stands behind the goal. On his first A-League start Benjamin Old drove into the middle of the pitch, put the ball onto his left foot and hit a strike past both Mejias and the goal post. On the half hour mark the Wanderers cleared a corner only as far as James McGarry, he aimed up with the left foot and draw a great diving save from Mejias.

In the 65th minute the Wanderers finally opened the scoring with Hemed profiting from a set piece scramble. A long ball free kick didn't get cleared by the Wellington defence, their keeper missed the ball completed. It fell past the pack toward Hemed, who used his strength to knock his marker away from the contest, giving him a clear sight of goal. He knocked the ball goal-ward, hitting it with enough power to clear the line even with a desperate goal-line clearance, VAR confirming the goal and missing what could easily have been called a pushing foul from Hemed.

The Wanderers took control of the game following the goal, with 10 left to play Antonis played a one-two with Hemed, the defence dropping deep enough that the midfield could attempt a curling right footed shot that Oliver Sail had to fingertip touch out for a corner. Rodwell left the field shortly after for Tass Mourdoukoutas, having put in a solid shift in his first A-League start.

With the game ebbing away the Nix won a corner in the 92nd minute. They sent the kitchen sink forward, goalkeeper Oliver Sail joining the attack. The delivery was decent but the crowded penalty area meant the Phoenix attackers couldn't get any clear contact on the ball, sending it high in the air. Two quicker headers and it fell to the benefit of Aquilina, who stormed forward, leaving the Wellington team in his dust. After Aquilina knocked the ball past the final Wellington defender Koutroumbis swooped in, taking two long touches before completing the 2-0 win with an unopposed 5 yard tap-in. The goals weren't beautiful, but the three points are, and the result is what matters in the end. Wellington would be disappointed to not take anything from the game. With the remainder of the round to play the win has the Wanderers in outright 2nd place with 5 points from the first 3 games.

The Wanderers next game is against Apia Leichardt in the FFA Cup Round of 16, on Tuesday the 7th of December with kick-off at 7:30pm at Leichardt Oval.