Source: Radio New Zealand
Kazugi Nagasawa evades the Newcastle defenders in their round Marty Melville
A disastrous seven-minute spell proved costly, as Wellington Phoenix slumped to a 3-1 loss to the Newcastle Jets in their A-League clash in Wellington.
After last season’s struggles, the latest campaign is showing few signs of improvement, with the Phoenix sitting second to bottom of the competition ladder.
Wellington conceded three goals in the second half, within a busy period of clinical scoring for Newcastle.
Deflated Phoenix captain Alex Rufer conceded afterwards his side were both outplayed and unable to capitalise on the home advantage.
“I think we came out very sloppy and we didn’t adapt,” Rufer told SkySport, after the fourth loss of Wellington’s campaign. “We came out very slow and very sluggish, and they punished us.
“We need to be much better, we let ourselves down in little areas – concentration and little execution errors. We’re really disappointed, because we wanted to make sure we put on a good performance at home.”
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano said the result was difficult to accept, given the one-sided nature of the match.
“It’s just unacceptable, losing 3-1 at home like that. It just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.”
He believed his team had ample chances to claw back from the three-goal deficit.
“If this group is going to do anything, it needs to mature very, very quickly, because we’re running out of games now,” he said. “We were just very naive in the defending.”
The Phoenix started brightly, with Carl Armiento and Corban Piper causing constant trouble for Newcastle. Both sides had a flurry of chances in the opening 20 minutes.
Armiento lashed a shot towards the top corner in the frenetic opening half, but was denied by Newcastle keeper James Delianov.
The match remained scoreless, until Newcastle hit the front just after the halftime break. Eli Adams found his target, when a low shot from inside the box hit the back of the net off a deflection.
The Phoenix had a strong chance to equalise, but striker Ifeanyi Eze couldn’t convert.
The floodgates opened, when the Jets followed up with two more goals in quick succession.
For the Jets, Lachlan Rose chipped the ball, after hesitation from Phoenix keeper Josh Oluwayemi, and Newcastle’s Clayton Taylor also put his name on the scoresheet.
Wellington scored the consolation goal through a pinpoint Ifeanyi header into the far left corner, but it was too little too late.
Ultimately, the Phoenix were unable to capitalise on their chances, and were exposed without defensive trio Manjrekar James, Isaac Hughes and Tim Payne.
“We need to start getting our starting players back as well,” Italiano said.
– RNZ
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
