VAR gives Phoenix a hand
Wellington Phoenix have drawn 1-1 with Melbourne Victory thanks to a helping hand from VAR.
Returning to the scene of last weekend’s controversial A-League loss to Melbourne City, where Louis Fenton was wrongly penalised for a handball, it was the Phoenix who benefited from a Video Assistant Referee decision at AAMI Park yesterday.
They were awarded an early penalty when Victory captain Ola Toivonen was deemed to have handled the ball from a Callum McCowatt corner. Referee Adam Kersey initially waved away the contact but a penalty was given upon review.
Ulises Davila stepped up to convert his second penalty of the season, coolly beating goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
Leading at the break for the first time this season, the winless Phoenix hunkered down, put bodies behind the ball and played on the counter in a desperate attempt to keep hold of their slender advantage.
However, the pressure took its toll midway through the second half.
The Victory struck when Toivonen punished Tim Payne for a poor clearance, which smashed off Kenny Athiu and landed fortuitously for the Swedish striker. In a piece of individual brilliance he beat Steven Taylor and chipped Stefan Marinovic.
Despite conceding for the fifth consecutive game, Marinovic was otherwise fantastic. He palmed away a low-driven Jakob Poulsen shot in the first half and denied Toivonen from close-range late on.
Captain Taylor also put in one of his best performances in a Phoenix shirt, using all of his experience to marshal a new-look back four featuring first-time starter Payne, who got the nod to replace the injured Fenton at right-back.
Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay handed A-League debuts to Cameron Devlin and Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi in the second half and switched to a more defensive 4-5-1 formation in the dying stages.
But although they were set up not to concede, the Phoenix still created chances to snatch a winner. Alex Rufer forced a spectacular save out of Thomas following
Wellington Phoenix 1 (Ulises Davila pen-5’) Melbourne Victory 1 (Ola Toivonen 66’). HT: 1-0. a free-kick while Ball slipped as he took a shot on the end of a swift Jaushua Sotirio counter.
While it was not pretty football, it was effective. Despite going a fifth game without a win, the Phoenix will happily take a draw away to Victory, especially as they were without marquee striker Gary Hooper who did not travel to Melbourne as a precaution after picking up a minor quad strain earlier in the week.
The Phoenix have a bye next weekend but return to action against Brisbane Roar on November 23.