Krishna seals victory with stoppage strike
ROY Krishna has completed a hat-trick to hand Wellington a last- gasp 3- 2 win over Melbourne City and keep alive i t s hopes of hosting an A-League home final.
Krishna tucked home the winner from a goalmouth scramble in the 94th minute to cap a thrilling contest yesterday in Wellington which the visitors had mostly dominated.
Riley McGree scored twice for City, both times cancelling out Krishna strikes but the home team held firm to cement fifth place and line up a shot at a fourth-placed finish in this week’s final round.
City is all but guaranteed to finish sixth, which would set up a Melbourne derby in the first round of the play-offs.
The Phoenix will need to pick up points away to Perth and hope Adelaide slips up in Brisbane if they are to leapfrog the fourth-placed Reds.
As has been the case for much of the campaign, red-hot striker Krishna proved the difference.
His first hat-trick of the season lifts him to 18 goals — two ahead Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre atop the Golden Boot race.
He also overtakes Jeremy Brockie as the leading scorer in a Phoenix season. Brockie notched 16 goals in 2012-13.
McGree’s selection was inspired from coach Warren Joyce. He was the only change to the visitors’ starting XI who drew 0-0 last week with Adelaide, replacing Kearyn Baccus in the midfield.
City deserved to win on weight of possession and chances, unleashing nine shots on goal to six.
Wellington goalkeeper Filip Kurto was immense, making a handful of sharp saves. It was potentially the last game in Wellington for departing coach Mark Rudan, who was given a rousing reception by Phoenix fans as he left the ground. A counter-attack led to Krishna’s opener, a nifty finish after being played through by Max Burgess in the 27th minute. City responded with McGree carefully placing the ball past Kurto in the 42nd minute after the Polish gloveman made successive reaction saves to two fearsome Jamie Maclaren strikes.
Krishna scored against the run of play soon after the break, rifling home a left-foot strike from the top of the box.
McGree’s equaliser was high quality, twisting to connect first time with a clearance that was moving away from goal. AAP