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02Apr22
City Hit "Nix" For Six
by Jeremy Ruane
Isuzu Ute A-League leaders Melbourne City hit Wellington Phoenix for six at PointsBet Stadium on April 2, thrashing the fourth-placed side 6-0 thanks to a ruthless second half display, during which they scored five goals,
City could consider themselves fortunate to be ahead at half-time, the lone goal coming in the seventeenth minute when Curtis Good flicked on a Florin Berenguer-Bohrer corner, the ball ricocheting into the net off the face of Wellington defender Finn Surman.
Prior to that, both teams had enjoyed opportunities to score, Wellington initially. Gael Sandoval broke out of defence in the fifth minute and fed Ben Old, who surged over halfway before bringing James McGarry into play.
The fullback's twenty-yarder was tipped over the bar by Tom Glover, with Ben Waine going close with a glancing header from Ben Old's resulting corner, as Ufuk Talay's charges began brightly.
Berenguer-Bohrer and Jamie MacLaren fired warning shots across Wellington's bows in the next five minutes as the league leaders began to get a grip on proceedings, but after the freakish own goal, it was the Wellingtonians who enjoyed the better of the exchanges.
Straight after conceding, Surman sent a raking ball downfield onto which Waine latched. His shot on the turn was directed straight at Glover, who saved again in the 24th minute, this time from David Ball. He was unable to generate enough power with his attempt on receipt of a pass from Old, who had taken over proceedings after Waine had forced Carl Jenkinson into conceding possession.
Three minutes later, Glover punched clear at his near post under pressure from Waine, who was racing in to meet a cross from McGarry, the fullback having been released by Nicholas Pennington's switch of play.
McGarry featured again on the half-hour, working his way down the flank before getting to the by-line. His cross was blocked, but a cheeky chipped attempt with the rebound nearly drifted into the net by the far post.
Melbourne had largely played second fiddle since the goal, but were nearly gifted a second by Oliver Sail, whose poor touch saw MacLaren appear on the scene in an instant. The goalkeeper deftly side-stepped the striker, however, and denied him in more conventional fashion ten minutes before half-time, dashing out to the edge of his penalty area as the league's leading marksman raced through in pursuit of a through ball.
Sail duly cleared his lines with a raking kick downfield, one which saw Waine scurrying through in a bid to do it justice. He was beaten by the bounce, but the ball's trajectory, coupled with the striker's pursuit of it, forced Glover to race out of his penalty area and execute a diving-headed clearance.
It was functional, but it was far from perfect, as the ball landed in the stride of Old. Without breaking stride, he let fly with a curling attempt towards the untended net. Much to Glover's relief, the ball drifted just past the far post - a real let-off for Melbourne, who, on the balance of play, were fortunate to still be in front on the scoreboard.
Remarkably, they came close to doubling their lead two minutes before half-time. A free-kick to the far post from Berenguer-Bohrer ricocheted goalwards
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off MacLaren, only for Sail to smother the sphere.
Two minutes later, Pennington and Sandoval teamed up to pick out Old, who played the ball on into the stride of McGarry. The fullback delivered a lovely cross to the far post which Ball, sliding in, only just failed to make contact with - Wellington's final first half effort, and it's fair to say they didn't deserve to go to the dressing rooms unrewarded for them.
Melbourne had other ideas, however, and a tactical tweak at half-time by coach Patrick Kisnorbo changed the game, so much so that Wellington, as an attacking threat, were largely anonymous throughout the second spell.
The same cannot be said for the league leaders. Five minutes after the resumption of play, they doubled their lead after Matthew Leckie switched play to Andrew Nabbout, who had Berenguer-Bohrer steaming up inside him. A first-time pass was duly delivered, and after his first cross had been blocked, the midfielder's second attempt found Leckie sliding in to turn the ball home on the far post.
2-0 became 3-0 nine minutes later. Sam Sutton was caught in possession by Nabbout, who took the ball on before smashing it across Sail and into the far corner of the net for his first goal in thirteen matches.
A further nine minutes elapsed before City made it 4-0. Substitute Connor Metcalfe delivered a corner to the near post which Good, with a delightful flicked header, sent flying into the far corner of the net - game over, if it wasn't already.
And still they pressed. Fifteen minutes from time, Jenkinson fed MacLaren, whose shot on the turn was blocked. Freshly introduced substitute Marco Tilio latched onto the rebound and let rip with a fiercely struck drive which Sail somehow kept out via his outstretched leg.
It was only staving off the inevitable, however, as from Metcalfe's resulting corner, half-time substitute Roystyn Griffiths flicked the ball onto Tilio, who evaded a challenge before thrashing home the game's fifth goal in the 76th minute.
A rare Wellington raid followed, with Waine leading the charge before picking out Ball. His lay-off invited Ball to let fly, but Good wasn't having a bar of it, shutting down the only attack the home team could muster on a dark day for Wellington Phoenix, for whom this result equalled a record they would rather not have.
Sydney FC inflicted Wellington's heaviest margin of defeat upon them when scoring a 7-1 hiding in January 2013, and Melbourne City matched it when netting their final goal of the game nine minutes from time.
Good pinged one over the top for Tilio to latch onto, and he deftly flicked the ball beyond Sail towards the net. Scott Wootton's despairing attempt to clear the sphere off the line was in vain, allowing City to celebrate a 6-0 triumph which extends their lead at the top to five points.
Wellington: Sail; Fenton (Elliot, 77), Surman, Wootton (Bozinovski, 82), McGarry (Piscopo, 69); Sandoval (Manuel, 77) Pennington (booked, 86), Sutton, Old; Ball (booked, 89), Waine
Melbourne: Glover; Hall (Griffiths, 46), Good, Bos; Nabbout (Tilio, 72), Jenkinson, Berenguer-Bohrer (Metcalfe, 59), O'Neill, Leckie; Gomulka (Borges Rodrigues, 72), MacLaren (Endoh, 82)
Referee: Adam Kersey
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