Western Sydney have claimed a morale-boosting 4-1 A-League Men triumph to condemn Wellington Phoenix to a third-straight defeat.
Goals from Zac Sapsford and former 'Nix striker Bozhidar Kraev gave the hosts a handy first-half lead at CommBank Stadium on Sunday before Marcus Antonsson and Dylan Scicluna fought off a second-half challenge.
It was Western Sydney keeper Lawrence Thomas who had seemingly given Wellington a lifeline in the second half, turning over the ball to opposition defender Matthew Sheridan.
The ball found its way to winger Tim Payne and his cross then connected with Kazuki Nagasawa.
Nagasawa sent the ball into Hideki Ishige's thigh, who - in a moment of brilliance - found the back of the net with a bicycle kick in the 59th minute.
But Antonsson was able to restore the host's two-goal lead at 66 minutes courtesy of a Gabriel Cleur cut-back, having come off the bench just two minutes before to replace Sapsford.
Scicluna then added his name to the score sheet for the first time in his career with a long-range rocket four minutes into added time.
The win lifts Alen Stajcic's side into the top six on 11 points after a season start of mixed fortunes under the new coach.
"We're not getting carried away," Stajcic said.
"Obviously, we're happy and the result was good ... but it's just one game.
"I just don't think we managed the game well, there was a period there where I thought the game should have been put to bed and Wellington got back through our own poor play, sloppy play, negative play, slow play.
"If we can improve that little bit of maturity and game management, I think we're going to go to even another level."
Meanwhile, Giancarlo Italiano is faced with three straight losses for the first time in his career at the Wellington helm.
His side had optimistically entered Sunday hoping to bounce back from 2-1 losses to local rivals Auckland FC and Macarthur FC in back-to-back fixtures.
They are ninth on the ladder on 10 points, yet to re-discover the form that launched them to runners-up to premiers Central Coast last year.
"It was very uncharacteristic for us today," Italiano said.
"Look, probably, halfway through that second half, I was already like, thinking about next week, 'alright, I know what to fix for next week'.
"I've seen some really good teams go through this.
"I don't think I'm the first manager to lose three in a row."
Young defender Isaac Hughes endured a nightmare in the opening 40 seconds after his error opened the door for Western Sydney to score.
Hughes slipped after attempting to clear an airball, allowing Socceroos star Brandon Borrello to pounce.
Borrello delivered to Wanderers teammate Sapsford, who easily found the back of the net.
Kraev, in his first game against his former team, then piled on the pain nine minutes later, set up by Borrello after Nicolas Milanovic plucked the ball off Wellington defender Corban Piper.
Unable to penetrate a daring Western Sydney side, the visitors finished the first half with only three shots at goal.
