12 Nov Kaludjerovic with a brace and Phoenix with their first win
Andrija Kaludjerovic scored a brace and Roy Krishna supplied three assists to help Wellington Phoenix to their first win of the season, beating Perth Glory 5-2 at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Serbian striker found the back of the net in the 74th minute from the penalty spot and again scored five minutes later as the ‘Nix powered past the Glory for their first victory of the campaign having found themselves a goal down early.
The visiting Glory, in search of their third win, edged ahead within 10 minutes of kick-off when Xavi Torres made the most of an error from Phoenix goalkeeper Keegan Smith. The Spanish midfielder opened his A-League account with a well-placed strike from just inside the 18-yard box after Diego Castro had knocked the indirect free-kick into his path.
Quickly enough, Wellington responded through Dario Vidosic who nodded home Krishna’s chipped cross before Goran Paracki netted his maiden A-League goal on 34 minutes after Fiji international Krishna had pounced on a poor defensive pass from Scott Neville.
Perth were able to pull the game back on level terms just two minutes into the second half thanks to a Shane Lowry header from a Mitch Nichols cross but the ‘Nix again replied swiftly when Krishna completed his hat-trick of assists when teeing up Gui Finkler to smash home from 10 yards.
From there, Darije Kalezic’s men ensured they would sew up all three points, aided by a contentious VAR penalty decision which Kaludjerovic expertly dispatched, before rounding it out when rising above his marker to meet Adam Parkhouse’s curling cross with an inch-perfect header.
The Phoenix have now moved up to 7th on the Hyundai A-League table ahead of their trip to Western Sydney next weekend as the Glory, on the back of their third away defeat, prepare to welcome the winless Melbourne Victory in Round 7.
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