Melbourne Victory suffered a 3-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix in the Hyundai A-League on Sunday.
Summary
Ulises Davila and Gary Hooper scored in the opening 21 minutes at Sky Stadium, where Wellington added a third through David Ball in the second half.
Victory was unable to find a way back into the game, with Ola Toivonen having a second-half strike ruled out by the video assistant referee (VAR).
Wellington opened the scoring in the third minute, Davila volleying in from close range after Reno Piscopo headed a Tim Payne cross into his path.
Phoenix goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic did well to deny Victory in the 13th minute, coming off his line to clear as Marco Rojas tried to get on the end of an Elvis Kamsoba pass.
Wellington doubled its lead in the 21st minute as Hooper flicked a header into the top corner from Liberato Cacace’s ball.
Victory created a decent chance approaching the half-hour mark, Marinovic pushing away Rojas’ strike after a Kamsoba pass.
The visitor continued to enjoy some bright moments and Rojas almost set up Birkan Kirdar, making his Hyundai A-League debut, 10 minutes before half-time.
Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas was forced into a low save early in the second half from Cacace’s driven effort from an angle.
Wellington found its third 10 minutes into the second half, Ball curling a strike into the bottom corner from just inside the area following a pass from Hooper.
Victory went close just before the hour-mark, but Kamsoba’s strike was deflected over after the attacker was played in by Toivonen.
So Nishikawa, 18, made his senior debut off the bench for Victory, which had a Toivonen strike ruled out by the VAR as it fell to defeat.
Player in focus
Result
Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Round 23
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Ulises Davila 3′, Gary Hooper 21′, David Ball 55′)
Melbourne Victory 0
Wellington Phoenix: Marinovic (gk); Payne, Taylor (c), DeVere, Cacace; Davila, Steinmann, Devlin (Rufer 62′), Piscopo (Sotirio 79′); Ball (Waine 87′), Hooper.
Melbourne Victory: Thomas (gk); Roux, Donachie, Carrigan, Broxham (c); Basha, Lesiotis (Nishikawa 56′); Kamsoba, Rojas (Lauton 80′), Kirdar (Toivonen 56′); Nabbout.
Yellow cards: Devlin 10′, Kirdar 20′, Roux 57′, Rufer 66′, Steinmann 78′, Nabbout 86′
Red cards: Nil
Attendance: TBA
Venue: Sky Stadium
