Wellington Phoenix have consolidated their place as A-League Men's leaders, after striking late to steal a 1-0 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at Sky Stadium.
As the match looked to be petering out to a scoreless draw, and after more than 90 minutes without a goal, the Phoenix struck twice in injury time to ensure they'd remain league leaders at Christmas.
In the 92nd minute, a ball over the Wanderers' defence from Alex Rufer saw Kosta Barbarouses round goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas to net the opener, before creating the second just two minutes later.
As Western Sydney piled men forward into the Phoenix half, a quick counter-attack saw Barbarouses play in Ben Old, who made no mistake in beating Thomas to double the lead, and put the result beyond the visitors' reach.
Victory moves the Phoenix four points clear of second-placed Melbourne Victory at the top of the table, meaning they will not be overtaken before Christmas Day, regardless of the result in the Melbourne Derby later on Saturday night.
The late goals came after the Phoenix were denied the opener in the first half, as Barbarouses was judged to have handled the ball after a cross from Bozhidar Kraev.
Kraev himself was also denied a goal, straying offside to stab in a cross from Lukas Kelly-Heald.
But the Phoenix continued to attack until the final whistle, and gave the crowd at Sky Stadium reason to cheer – twice – when the twin strikes earned Giancarlo Italiano's men a sixth win of the season.
At the other end, Alex Paulsen continued his heroics in goal for the Phoenix, stringing together another impressive display, including a stunning double save from Western Sydney's Nicolas Milanovic and Dylan Pierias.
The Wanderers' best chance came towards fulltime, when Alexander Badolato hit the frame of the goal, as replays showed Paulsen had in fact gotten a finger to the ball to preserve his clean sheet.
The Phoenix return to action on December 29 when they travel to face Sydney FC away from home, as part of a doubleheader with the Phoenix women's side, who themselves also secured a 2-0 victory over Newcastle Jets earlier on Saturday to move to third on the ladder.
Wellington Phoenix 2 (Barbarouses, Old)
Western Sydney Wanderers 0
