Wellington Phoenix have bounced back with a 4-1 rout of Western United in their A-League clash at Ballarat on Saturday.
Coming off two consecutive heavy defeats, the Phoenix struck three times in the first half to put the contest away early against their second-placed opponents.
"It's a great response from the players after the last two games that we've had," Phoenix head coach Ufuk Talay said after the game.
"It's not the way I wanted to learn from our mistakes, conceding 11 goals in two games, but sometimes that needs to happen for players to really learn.
"They've shown a lot of resilience. We've come off two very heavy losses and we've played Western United who are a very in-form team and currently sitting second on the ladder, so today was a very important win."
Scott Wootton gave the Phoenix the lead in the 29th minute, tapping home at the far post from a corner.
Three minutes later, the Phoenix had their second, as Gael Sandoval lid on a perfectly weighted through ball for Jaushua to strike first-time into the back of the net.
On the stroke of halftime, Nicholas Pennington was toppled in the box to earn his side a penalty, allowing Sandoval to step up and slot home from the spot.
Western United were able to pull a goal back early in the second half, before Sotirio turned to fire home after Reno Piscopo's brilliant run into the box to restore the three-goal advantage, which they held for the remainder of the match.
The fifth-placed Phoenix move on to face Perth Glory on Thursday.
Wellington Phoenix 4 (Scott Wootton 29', Jaushua Sotirio 32' 63', Gael Sandoval pen 45'+2) Western United 1 (Steven Lustica 54'). HT: 3-0
