Wellington have stretched their lead on the A-League Men ladder to six points and nullified Perth’s recently potent attack with a 0-0 away draw against Glory.
Wellington’s Ben Old came closest to breaking the deadlock at Perth's HBF Park on Saturday, clipping a post with his 66th minute shot.
Then Perth goalkeeper Oli Sail denied his former side in the 90th minute with a fine save from an Oskar Zawada header.
The visitors had more goal attempts, especially in the second half, but Perth captain Adam Taggart went close on.a number of occasions.
Phoenix extended their unbeaten run to nine games as they moved six points clear of Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory while ninth-placed Glory extended their own undefeated streak to six matches.
Both defences held firm and neither side had the guile or creativity to score, with each side managing just two shots on target.
“Delighted with the point, the travel away is always a difficult task,” Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano told Paramount Plus.
“Coming to Perth is a different dynamic because we’re travelling about eight to nine hours and the acclimatisation, the time zone difference makes it very difficult.
“We were very happy that in the end we controlled the game for the most part. I thought defensively we were quite sound.”
It was the first time this season Perth had been in a game featuring less than.two goals, and it was their first goalless draw since April 2023.
Perth had scored 26 goals in their last 10 matches, but were generally well contained by Phoenix, who entered the round having conceded the equal lowest amount of goals.
Both sides looked to boost their attacking potential by introducing some proven strike weapons on the hour.
Star imports Oskar Zawada, from Poland, and Bulgarian Bozhidar Kraev came on for Wellington, while Perth brought on Socceroo David Williams.
Wellington looked the more likely to score after the break, with Zawada and Kraev each having a shot blocked within five minutes of entering the game.
Perth had their moments with Taggart firing another attempt just wide and Williams shooting straight at Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.
Perth coach Alen Stajcic said the draw left him feeling empty, though he regarded their second clean sheet of the season as a positive.
“I thought they dominated the second half, I thought certainly we had the more penetration in the first half and chances,” Stajcic said Paramount Plus.
“Probably a point might be fair enough but not happy with a point, that's for sure.
“There were certain moments in the game where we could have capitalised especially early In the first half and really put them on the back foot, which we didn’t do.”
