Phoenix late winner over Melbourne Victory
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Wellington Phoenix men's side have beaten Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park for the first time since 2017 thanks to a late goal from Sander Kartum.
In a sometimes nervous game it came down to Kartum to volley home the only goal of the match and to hand Wellington Phoenix their first away win over Melbourne Victory since April 2017.
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The hoodoo-breaking victory lifts Wellington to seventh, just one point behind Macarthur at the foot of the playoff places. Melbourne Victory’s unbeaten run ends at seven and they are left in fourth.
The visitors had the better of the opening stages and the best chance in their period of dominance came when Kazuki Nagasawa’s corner cleared the crowd at the near post and Corban Piper, caught in a wrestle with Nikos Vergos, stuck out a foot and flicked it against the crossbar.
The hosts had their first sight of goal after a quarter of an hour when Juan Mata – his left arm still dangling limply by his side after an awkward fall – poked the ball to Keegan Jelacic who squeezed by his defender but pulled his shot wide.
Wellington nearly took what would have been a well-deserved lead in the dying seconds of the first half when Ramy Najjarine picked up the ball in a pocket and flicked it deftly in behind for Piper whose left-footed volley faded just wide of the far post.
Chances were at a premium in a frustrating second half and the first one of note came after 80 minutes when Bill Tuiloma was left completely unmarked. But, when Sander Kartum’s corner was swung onto his head, the centre-half failed to get enough on it and it bounced wide of the back post.
The Nix finally took the lead with just two minutes to play when Ifeanyi Eze turned creator, drifting out wide to the left and curling a cross in that was met by a sweet, cushioned volley from Kartum that bounced in off the post.
17 year-old substitute Luke Brooke-Smith had a golden chance to seal the game in the third minute of stoppage time when he wriggled into the area but turned his shot wide from close range.
