Three goals scored in eight second-half minutes saw Western Sydney Wanderers equalise, take the lead and lose it as Wellington Phoenix had the final say in a 2-2 draw at WIN Stadium on Sunday night.
Three goals scored in eight second-half minutes saw Western Sydney Wanderers equalise, take the lead and lose it as Wellington Phoenix had the final say in a 2-2 draw at WIN Stadium on Sunday night.
The Phoenix took the lead in the first half through Mirza Muratovic before the Wanderers drew level in the 71st minute thanks to a Kwame Yeboah goal. Eight minutes later the scores were locked at 2-2 after a Bruce Kamau finish was cancelled out by Louis Fenton’s header to ensure the Phoenix took a point from the entertaining contest.
Muratovic scored nine minutes into the piece to give the Phoenix a first-half lead they held until the break. Ulises Dávila ran rampant in the opening 45, assisting the Muratovic opener and teeing up Reno Piscopo for a chance which may have resulted in a second Phoenix goal if not for a loose touch from the Australia U-23 international.
It was a rare blemish throughout Piscopo’s impressive first-half display highlighted by a half-volley struck with technique and force which rattled off the post, only just evading the target.
The Wanderers began to turn momentum in the dying embers of the first half and completed their transition into dominance throughout the early stages of the second stanza, forging a number of chances as Bernie Ibini, Nicolai Müller and Yeboah were joined by Tate Russell in sending shots toward the Phoenix goal.
After 70 minutes of frustration, the Wanderers finally drew level thanks to a set piece routine designed on the training track and executed to perfection. Jordan O’Doherty found Keanu Baccus at the back post with a free-kick, who volleyed across goal for Yeboah to head home, restoring parity in the contest and setting up an enthralling ending in Wollongong.
Yeboah’s goal was the first of three to be scored within eight minutes. The Wanderers went ahead as the game opened up after Daniel Wilmering put a cross on a platter for Bruce Kamau to put his side into the lead, before Louis Fenton equalised three minutes later with a free-kick routine not dissimilar to the three-touch set-piece which led to Yeboah’s goal just eight minutes prior.
With little more than ten minutes to play the open fixture could have gone either way, with both teams pushing hard for a winner. But, the scoring spree was over after Fenton’s headed finish, leaving both teams with a share of the points in the 2-2 affair.
