Phoenix rue chance to claim points
It may have been David Ball’s birthday, but it was Melbourne Victory who were given the cards at AAMI Park last night.
The 0-0 result keeps the Phoenix in fifth place on the A-League ladder and extends their unbeaten run to five games.
The decisive goal eluded Wellington in a match where they were constantly fouled by their opposition and lacked the cutting edge required to find a breakthrough.
Seven Victory players were given yellow cards and Kristijan Dobras a direct red, but it was the Phoenix’s inability to create a clear goal-scoring opportunity that hurt them the most.
The Phoenix out-shot Victory 17-12 but only two of those shots were on target, one a snapshot from Liberato Cacace and the other a looping effort from Jaushua Sotirio.
In seasons gone by the Phoenix may have taken a point away to Victory but given the opposition’s recent struggles and the fact they played the final 30 minutes with only 10 players, Ufuk Talay’s side will feel like they should have got more out of a feisty game which threatened to boil over on multiple occasions.
Ball (who turned 30 yesterday) and Ulises Davila came in for some rough treatment, frequently fouled whenever they got on the ball, and Dobras was given his marching orders for a high boot on Cameron Devlin 15 minutes into the second half.
While a direct red seemed harsh given the contact was relatively soft, Dobras was already on a yellow card, meaning the lighter punishment would have resulted in his dismissal anyway.
But even with the numerical advantage, the Phoenix struggled to break down Victory’s defence, held scoreless for the first time since their opening-round defeat to Western United.
It says a lot that it was centreback Luke DeVere who came the closest to scoring, his second-half header striking the underside of the crossbar.
After four appearances off the bench, Devlin was handed his first start of the A-League season, playing in place of the injured Alex Rufer.
Rufer was kept at home after suffering a minor knee injury against Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend.
But his absence was hardly felt, Devlin making a seamless transition into a starting role and doing enough to warrant future selection.
Kept scoreless, Davila failed to become the first Phoenix player to score in five consecutive matches.
DeVere produced one of his strongest performances since joining the Phoenix, pushing Robbie Kruse wide and getting a crucial deflection on an Andrew
Nabbout shot early on.
Stefan Marinovic was also called upon to make a key save, Victory’s only effort on target, while Dobras struck the upright moments before halftime.