Western Sydney have produced one of their most fluent displays of the A-League Men season, with red-hot striker Brandon Borrello marking a milestone game with a goal in a 4-0 home win over Wellington.
The result at CommBank Stadium on Friday moved the Wanderers up to second on goal difference above Adelaide United, who play on Sunday.
A fading Phoenix dropped a spot to sixth, below Sydney FC on goal difference, and are winless in five having picked up just one point in that period.
Newcastle and Western United could draw level with Wellington on Saturday if they win tough home game’s against high-flying clubs Central Coast and Melbourne City respectively.
Western Sydney caused enormous problems for their visitors with attacking threats from multiple sources, as they racked up four goals for the fourth time in their last nine games.
Borrello, Calum Nieuwenhof, Amor Layouni, Milos Ninkovic and Aidan Simmons caused problems all night with their movement and skill.
The Wanderers took control with goals from Borrello in the ninth minute and Nieuwenhof on the half hour.
Playing in his 100th ALM game, Borrello scored his fourth goal in three games and 12th of the season to give the home side a great start.
He fired home following a pass from Ninkovic, who was making his 200th ALM appearance, with Layouni and Simmons also involved in the buildup.
Borrello later tuned provider for Nieuwenhof, who cut inside a defender and placed the ball home, punishing Wellington for losing possession near their penalty area.
Simmons added a third in the 65th minute with his first ALM goal.
The 19-year-old showed great composure after racing on to a Romain Amalfitano through ball, rounding the goalkeeper and a defender before slotting the ball in.
Two substitutes combined for the fourth on 87 minutes when Kusini Yengi scored from a Nicolas Milanovic through ball.
It took Wellington until the 71st minute to force a save from Lawrence Thomas, who did well to deny Steven Ugarkovic before later thwarting Oskar Zawada later.
Phoenix goalkeeper and captain Oliver Sail kept his side in the game in the first half making three good saves.
The Wanderers had other attempts go just wide, while David Ball, Yan Sasse and Bozhidar Kraev missed chances for Wellington.
