Perth Glory 2 Phoenix 0
KEY POINTS:
The slide continues for the Wellington Phoenix.
Hardly firing a shot, they had no answer as Perth Glory fed off the scraps to win 2-0 last night and send the Phoenix in a tailspin to the bottom of the Hyundai A-League table.
Coach Ricki Herbert faces a tough week, having to lift his players from another disappointing effort before Friday's away battle with Sydney FC.
Chasing a club record third consecutive home win, Perth had one early chance which all but undid the disjointed Phoenix defence and a second, in the 15th minute, which they took.
After dealing with a Phoenix corner, the home side won a free kick, which goalkeeper Tando Velaphi sent long. Nikita Rukavytsya, who made a mess of the early half chance, made no mistake in simply rolling the ball along the ground away from goalkeeper Mark Paston and into the goal.
For the Phoenix it was then another case of playing catch-up. They rarely looked likely to do that.
Despite a wealth of possession and a fair dollop of territory, the Phoenix did nothing in front of goal. From a dozen or more balls played into the Perth penalty area they managed a only two weak attempts.
Their attacking corners, too, produced nothing apart from turnovers.
There was, briefly, some Phoenix urgency after the break but in the end more of the same from the hesitant strike force, who were rarely given quality ball.
In a 69th minute move which mirrored their early goal, Perth snuffed out a Phoenix corner.
Substitute Eugene Dadi gathered and sent Rukavytsya clear. He out-ran Tony Lochhead and hit home for 2-0 to complete the Phoenix pain.
