Wellington survive two red cards, two late penalties to beat Sydney FC
Wellington Phoenix have escaped with one of the craziest wins in A-League history.
They overcame two red cards and two highly controversial stoppage time penalties to beat Sydney FC 1-0 in a drama-filled clash – their first win over the Sky Blues since coach Ufuk Talay took charge.
Oliver Sail pulled off the save of his career, diving low to his left to deny Adam Le Fondre from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time after Tim Payne was judged by referee Shaun Evans to have handled the ball despite replays showing it struck his back.
Incredibly, Sydney were then immediately handed another chance to snatch a late equaliser from the spot when Callan Elliot was penalised for a handball as the Phoenix tried to clear the ball away following Sail’s super save.
However, Le Fondre blew the chance to make amends, smashing his second penalty high above the crossbar and handing the Phoenix their first away win of the season and a result that moved them back into the top-six.
‘‘Do we want to play with nine men every game? No we don’t, but in this case we’ve had to deal with this situation and the boys came up trumps,’’ Talay said. ‘‘The boys showed fantastic character to get through that [drama] and we walked away with the three points.’’
Phoenix midfielders Bozhidar
Kraev and Nicholas Pennington were both sent off in the final 20 minutes, turning the match on its head after Polish striker Oskar Zawada had given them the dream start with a composed finish inside the first 10 minutes.
Zawada missed seven chances against Melbourne City in their last match, but he made no mistake with his first against Sydney after beating goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne to a ball over the top from Clayton Lewis.
Sydney FC had the ball in the back of the net midway through the second half via Rhyan Grant’s effort at the back post, but the right-back’s equaliser was disallowed due to a marginal offside call.
The drama continued as the second half wore on.
Kraev was shown a second yellow and a brain fade from Pennington saw the Phoenix reduced to nine men.
Pennington retaliated with anger after a coming together with Max Burgess and was issued a straight red after grabbing the throat of his opponent, who was only given a yellow for instigating the scuffle.
Talay accepted Kraev’s second yellow, even if he thought his player showed no intent to injure Retre. However, he said he couldn’t comment on Pennington’s red card as he couldn’t see what happened.
The Phoenix had not beaten Sydney since 2018 and they must have thought the football gods were against them as Evans twice pointed to the spot during a bonkers period of stoppage time. But against all odds they hung on to give Talay, a former Sydney FC player and assistant, his first win against his former employer. This result will go down in history as one of the club’s most incredible wins. Phoenix captain Alex Rufer got through 60 minutes in his first start since tearing his ACL last season.
Kraev and Pennington will now miss their next game, away to Brisbane Roar next Saturday.