Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory 2-1

Wellington Phoenix beat Melbourne Victory 2-1 at Hnry Stadium after R. Bidois came off the bench to score the winner in the 77th minute. C. Piper had put the home side in front first, and C. Nduka levelled it before the interval.

Piper opened the scoring in the 14th minute from M. Sheridan’s assist, and Nduka equalised on 24 minutes. That left it 1-1 at half-time.

The match turned again on 77 minutes, when R. Bidois, who had come on in the 77th minute, scored from N. Walker’s assist to make it 2-1. Walker had entered in the 28th minute. Wellington had made an earlier change on 28 minutes when R. Duran made way for Walker, while Melbourne Victory used two changes on 62 minutes and two more on 74 minutes in an attempt to respond, with C. Nduka later replaced on 87 minutes.

Melbourne Victory had more of the ball with 59% possession and 471 passes to Wellington’s 305, and they also had a higher pass accuracy at 78% to 73%. Wellington still had more shots, 8-4, more shots on target, 3-2, and more corners, 6-5, while Melbourne were caught offside three times to Wellington’s one. The away side made two saves to Wellington’s one and finished with five fouls to seven.

P. Ziereis was booked in the 45th minute and D. Genreau in the 71st minute for Melbourne Victory.