A Ben Old brace and some fresh legs have propelled Wellington Phoenix to.a 3-2 home win over Adelaide United and back to the top of the A League Men's ladder.
Sunday's victory pushed the Phoenix three points clear of Central Coast Mariners, who briefly knocked them off top spot when their 1-0 away victory over Newcastle on Saturday night lifted them above Wellington on wins.
Wellington remain unbeaten in 2024 and in 10 games, while 10th-placed Adelaide are nine points off sixth spot and seemingly out of finals contention.
Old gave Wellington a 1-0 halftime lead, but Adelaide deservedly pulled level with a Luka Jovanovic penalty on the hour as the visitors took control against a listless Phoenix.
A rare quadruple substitution by Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano paid off within two minutes and two of his.replacements combined for the crucial second goal, scored by Oskar van Hattum.
“I went with what I felt in my gut more than anything,” Italiano told Paramount Plus about the mass changes.
“I thought we were pretty average in the first half.”
Old’s second strike gave a rejuvenated Wellington a two-goal buffer before substitute Hiroshi Ibusuki pulled one back for the Mariners from close range in added time.
It was the first time in eight games Phoenix had conceded more than once.
Adelaide had eight more shots on target but didn’t capitalise enough against a more clinical Wellington.
“We're punished for mistakes, they scored two goals from transition and one from a set piece so we’re just not switching on for that entire 90 minutes and we’re hurting ourselves at the moment,” Adelaide captain Ryan Kitto told Paramount Plus.
“We created a number of good opportunities, we just couldn’t take them and we got punished.
"We’re a proud group and we’re not happy with where we are at the moment.”
The Phoenix remain unbeaten in 2024 and in 10 games, while 10th-placed Adelaide are nine points off sixth spot and seemingly out of finals contention.
Old scored with Phoenix’s only on-target shot of the first half, but had to wait the best part of two minutes after his goal was initially ruled offside.
A VAR check revealed he was fractionally onside after being put through by Tim Paine before firing in a shot which flicked the fingers of Adelaide goalkeeper James Delianov and ended in the back of the net.
‘You know when the VAR takes longer and longer you think it's a lot better chance,” Old told Paramount Plus.
Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulson pulled off fine saves to deny Austin Ayoubi and Ben Warland just before the break.
United equalised when Jovanovic drilled a powerful penalty past Paulson after Phoenix captain Alex Rufer fouled Harry van der Saag.
Wellington regained control and went close a couple of times before taking the lead in the 69th minute.
Old’s shot from.a cross from substitute Kosta Barbarouses looked goalbound, but his hopes of a hat-trick were dashed as van Hattum tapped in from close range for his first ALM goal.
“He’s like ‘oh, I’m sorry,’ but I’m happy for him, it’s his first goal and I got another one so it ended up alright,” Old said.
He lashed a shot between Delianov and his post after Adelaide failed to clear a corner.
