WSW in Wollongong Battle For A Point

The A-League resumed following the World Cup break with the Wanderers taking on Wellington Phoenix, who took a late lead before the Wanderers clawed back a point through a "beat everyone" long range free kick from Yeni Ngabakoto.

This Wellington "home" game in Wollongong saw the Nix hoping to rise as high as 4th place with a win and the Wanderers, firmly ensconced in the top 4, had a theoretical chance of displacing Melbourne City if they won 9-0. Western Sydney's major team news was Yeni Ngabakoto being elevated for his first start of the campaign and Ramy Najjarine's performance against Everton during the break being rewarded with a start as well. The pitch that greeted the sides was woeful, with bare patches of dirt and very little grass cover.

Wellington had the best chance of the opening stages with a series of shots from tight angles that were parried away by Lawrence Thomas before a final shot flew well wide. Najjarine won a free kick with neat footwork on the edge of the area that he took himself, shooting on his left over the wall but covered by Oli Sail.

Thomas rescued the Wanderers in the 14th minute from what seemed a near certain goal. A corner kick bounced off one man to the far post, and with the apparent empty net to aim for it was nodded toward goal only for the flying Thomas to paw it away over the bar. The subsequent corner was a scramble that no-one knew much about including Thomas but the ball eventually squirmed away and was belted up-field and cleared.

Wellington looked to have picked up the first card of the match when former Wanderers midfield Steven Ugarkovic smashed into the back of an attacker, a pointless foul that was never going to win the ball. It would have put him under yellow card pressure for the remainder of the game had it actually been given, an optical illusion created perhaps by the referee ticking him off in the notebook without the full saction of a yellow card. Neat interplay between Calem Nieuwenhof and Brandon Borrello resulted in a long range shot in the 32nd minute that was well off target.

The only exciting things in the last 15 were multiple instances of a broken ball ended up being used, and Ngabakoto picking up a yellow card very late for a forearm to the head area of a Wellington player. All in all, a forgettable half, perhaps down to ring rust following the break.

10 minutes after half-time the Wanderers had a good chance to break open the game. They attacked down their right flank, fired back across the six yard box but Krpic couldn't get the final touch, Sail pawing the ball back into the middle and away from the Wanderers attackers.

Wellington opened the scoring on the hour mark. A simple diagonal cross to the back past from Clayton Lewis, a huge aerial mismatch between Bozhidar Kraev and Gabi Cleur made the Bulgarian the favourite and he made no mistake with a downward header past Thomas to make it 1-0. Marko Rudan reacted immediately, taking off Najjarine for Milos Ninkovic and Oliver Bozanic making his debut with Romaine Amalfitano departing. With 20 to play and the emergency alarm blaring due to some pyrotechnical colour from the away fans, Borrello had a shot wide. A delay ensued when Lewis smashed his face into the turf after jumping on the back of an opponent.

Sail got himself into a tangle when he rushed out of his box to sweep away a through ball, just barely getting to the ball in time to prevent a touch around him and a second to prevent Krpic getting a free shot at goal. David Ball picked up a yellow card for dragging down Adama Traore to prevent him getting a run into the penalty area.

The Wanderers setup a grand stand finish with a 10th minute strike. That free kick conceded by Ball was in the perfect position for a whipped in cross, Ngabakoto fired an in-swinger that evaded everyone including the run of Marcelo and left Sail completely stranded on the wrong side of the pitch. The celebrations were muted by Ninkovic, who was himself a substitute, having to come off with a clear hamstring issue & was replaced by Daniel Wilmering making his first appearance in the A-League since the 3rd of July 2021. Kraev went into the book for a challenge on the other goalscorer of the evening Ngabakoto.

Wilmering combined with Traore and eventually found a cross into the 6 yard area that Krpic lunged for & missed but ultimately still found a shot from the floor. Sail had another heart attack moment when he mishandled a tame cross that Ngabakoto was sliding through on, but he was thankful it didn't fall for a rushing Wanderers. The match wound down into 6 minutes of injury time and Rudan gave an A-League debut for Nathaniel Blair with Ngabakoto off.

The final chance came from a long range set piece, Ugarkovic did in fact pick up his yellow card late on, it was launched long into the box for Krpic who was adjudged to have been offside or fouling. Following the final whistle a general melee broke out thanks to Oli Sail getting in the face of Marcelo before the tensions broke and handshakes went all around. Wellington would be disappointed to having conceded late on but also happy to have not lost to a Wanderers team who came home with a wet sail. The draw keeps the Wanderers in the top 2 for another week and pushes Wellington into the top 6.

The Wanderers next game is against Western United in Melbourne on Sunday the 18th of December with kick-off at 3pm Sydney time.