Phoenix draw but co-coach cries foul
Coaches from both sides had gripes but it was Western Sydney Wanderers’ Tony Popovic who expressed more disappointment after a 2-2 draw with the Phoenix in Auckland on Saturday night.
The visitors looked on track for just their third win of the season when they took a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute of the round 11 A-league clash at Mt Smart Stadium.
But, in the frenetic 12-minute period that followed the home side grabbed goals through Gui Finkler and Roy Krishna to square the ledger, while Wellington goalkeeper Glen Moss also saved a penalty to set up an action-packed final quarter.
The match eventually ended in a stalemate as neither side was able to convert one of the numerous chances created at either end over an entertaining and open closing 25 minutes.
Interim Phoenix managers Chris Greenacre and Des Buckingham indicated they were happy to take a point after being forced to fight back from two goals down.
Popovic was not so pleased, and not just because his side could not win despite creating 17 shots to Wellington’s eight and finishing with an 8-2 advantage in shots on target.
‘‘Normally if you don’t get a result or lose, coaches say the referee wasn’t up to it or there was an issue with a decision,’’ he said.
‘‘I just think some of the decisions were hard to understand, crucial ones. But we still had more than enough chances and certainly should’ve done enough to win regardless.
‘‘Away from home it’s tough and you take a point if you can. But when you’re leading and the chances we created, we go home disappointed.’’
Popovic not only questioned the awarding of the penalty which led to Finkler’s first goal for the Phoenix, he also pointed to what appeared to be a handball from Kosta Barbarouses in the moments before Krishna headed home his seventh goal of the 2016-17 campaign.
Interestingly, Buckingham felt it was in fact the home team who were perhaps disadvantaged by referee Peter Green.
Asked if he felt a draw was the right result, Buckingham responded somewhat unexpectedly with a lengthy and detailed assessment of the 29 fouls Western Sydney committed in comparison to the 13 conceded by the Phoenix.
‘‘We’re trying to play an attacking brand and we found it hard.
‘‘We do need to be better on the ball but at the end of the game there is 29 fouls against us. It breaks the game up and stops us.
‘‘It’s a hard enough game as it is ... all we ask, if there is a continual build up of fouls, that something is done about it.
‘‘The referee has done ok ... it’s just 29 fouls is stopping the game plan we want. More control over that could be taken.’’
While there was not necessarily agreement on what impact the referee had on the match, the coaches were more on the same wavelength when it came to the final result.
The hosts had made the much brighter start but it was the visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 19th minute after Brendon Santalab drove in a classy volley from their first corner of the night.
Western Sydney maintained that 1-0 buffer at the break and when Mitch Nichols capitalised on lazy Phoenix defending to double their lead 11 minutes into the second spell another poor crowd of 5,702 appeared on track to head home disappointed.
That was until a crazy 12 minutes where Jaushua Sotirio felled Krishna, allowing Finkler to power home from the spot, Moss saved a penalty at the other end and Krishna expertly nodded in a pinpoint Adam Parkhouse cross at the back post.
Although his team had gone away from the game plan at times, Greenacre said the match was ‘‘definitely a step forward’’ ahead of a Boxing Day clash away to Newcastle.
‘‘It’s another point on the board and we’ve shown character to get back in the game, we haven’t had that for a while.
‘‘It wasn’t a polished performance but we look to Newcastle now. Parts I thought were very good, especially the first 20 and last 20 we probably dominated. But we have to improve through the team.’’
The result meant the Phoenix remained eighth on the 10-team A-league ladder, two points behind sixth-placed Newcastle.