Wellington Phoenix overcame the absence of key players

Wellington Phoenix overcame the absence of key players as they moved off the bottom of the A-League table with a 2-0 win over Central Coast. Roy Krishna was again their main goal threat against the Mariners, scoring the opener and laying on the second for Hamish Watson. Ernie Merrick’s side were without five players due to international duty, but it didn’t prevent them collecting a second win in a row to leapfrog their opponents in the table. The Phoenix netted twice in the space of seven second-half minutes to settle the contest played in blustery conditions at Canberra’s GIO Stadium.

Keeper Lewis Italiano did well to prevent Central Coast making a late comeback as they committed numbers forward, with Roy O’Donovan twice going close.

Fiji international Krishna had got Wellington’s first goal of the campaign in round 4 in the 6-1 thrashing by Melbourne City, and netted both in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets.

He kept up that form against the Gosford side to lift the New Zealanders into seventh spot.

Gui Finkler was unlucky to be denied in the first half when his long-range free-kick rebounded off the post.

Krishna broke the deadlock four minutes after the break, latching onto Watson’s clever ball over the top. The striker’s pace took him round keeper Paul Izzo and he was able to find the net from an acute angle.

That goal extended the Mariners’ sequence without a clean sheet to 35 games.

The killer blow came soon after, via a move started by Finkler’s excellent pass in behind to Krishna. The 29-year-old squared the ball to Watson who was able to turn the ball into an empty net.

There was no way back for the home side as Merrick celebrated his 100th win in the A-League, becoming the first coach to reach the milestone.

The Mariners are likely to be without Scott Galloway and possibly fellow defender Jacques Faty for next weekend’s F3 derby against Newcastle. Galloway had to come off in the first half with a hamstring strain, while Faty needed heavy strapping to see out the contest.

The Phoenix are 2/1 to win their next game against Melbourne Victory, who are 13/10 with the draw 12/5.

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Source: Bet365