The Wellington Phoenix have slumped to the bottom of the A-League ladder, beaten 2-0 by previously winless Adelaide United to fall below them on goal difference after a third of the 2016/17 campaign.
Two superb first-half goals from Brazilian attacker Henrique laid the foundation for Adelaide's first victory of theseason, while consigning the Phoenix to a sixth loss in eight games.
In his first start since round three, Henrique was the star of the show for the home side, opening the scoring after 26 minutes. The Phoenix failed to clear an Adelaide set-piece and when the ball broke to him on the edge of the area, Henrique drilled home an unerring left-footed strike from 20 yards.
His second - which arrived thirteen minutes later - was even better. As the Phoenix defence waited for a right-wing free-kick to be delivered into the penalty area, it was instead squared across the face of the box for the Brazilian to whistle a right-footed thunderbolt past Moss and double Adelaide's lead. He may never hit a sweeter shot.
It could have been so different for the Phoenix had Roy Krishna converted a penalty earned by the impressive Adam Parkhouse who was felled in the area by Adelaide defender Dylan McGowan after 20 minutes. For the second time in two games, Krishna saw his initial spot-kick saved, but unlike last week, was unable to seize upon the rebound from Reds goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic. That aside, the Phoenix's opportunities were limited to half-chances.
Tensions threatened to boil over in what was at times a heated encounter, with the Phoenix collecting four yellow cards. What will concern coach Ernie Merrick most of all though - and not for the first time this season - is a lack of end-product from his much-vaunted strike-force. While the Phoenix shaded possession and played significantly more passes than their hosts, Galekovic was relatively untroubled. Not many would have predicted Kosta Barbarouses, Roly Bonevacia and Gui Finkler wouldn't have a single goal between them after eight games.
Hamish Watson was introduced after an hour and while he had the ball in the net with 15 minutes to go, his close-range strike was ruled out for offside. Adelaide also had a late goal chalked off when striker Ryan Kitto was adjudged to have controlled the ball with his hand before poking home.
The Phoenix next face the seventh-placed Central Coast Mariners in Hamilton on Saturday night.
