. Wellington Phoenix found a way to clinch a draw against Melbourne Victory with a late goal from A. Rufer scored in the (90′) after Melbourne Victory got a lead with a goal from C. Chapman (79′). Melbourne Victory was vastly better in terms of ball possession (63%)​

The match was played at the Wellington Regional Stadium stadium in on Friday and it started at 3:30 pm local time. The referee was Daniel Elder with the assistance of Isaac Trevis and Sarah Jones. The 4th official was Lachlan Keevers. The weather was scattered clouds. The temperature was hot at 27.73 degrees Celsius or 81.91 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 18%.​

Match Statistics​

Wellington Phoenix

1 - 1

Melbourne Victory

  • ! 37 Ball Possession 63
Shots
  • 10 Total 19
  • 3 On Target 6
  • 5 Off Target 7
  • 2 Shots blocked 7
  • 67 Attack 131
  • 22 Dangerous attack 104
  • 63 Ball safe 46
  • 1 Penalties 0
  • 4 Corners 15
Fouls
  • 6 Total 8
  • 0 Yellow Cards 1
  • 0 Double Yellow 0
  • 1 Red Card 0
Other
  • 4 Substitutions 5

Ball possession

Melbourne Victory had a superior ball possession 63% while Wellington Phoenix was struggling with a 37% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Melbourne Victory was more aggressive with 104 dangerous attacks and 19 shots of which 6 were on target. Nonetheless, that was not enough Melbourne Victory to win the contest​.

Wellington Phoenix shot 10 times, 3 on target, 5 off target. Talking about the opposition, Melbourne Victory shot 19 times, 6 on target, 7 off target.

Cards

Wellington Phoenix didn’t receive any yellow card. On the opposite side, Melbourne Victory received 1 yellow card (Adama Traoré).

(Wellington Phoenix) was sent off after receiving a red card in the (45′).

Match Timeline

36'
A. Traoré- Yellow
41'
Chris Ikonomidis(VAR)
Tim Payne - Red
45'
Tim Payne (VAR_CARD)
45'
63'
Connor Chapman- sub ->Christopher Ikonomidis
63'
Ben Folami- sub ->Adama Traoré
63'
R. Teague- sub ->Rai Marchán
S. Sutton- sub ->David Ball
69'
74'
Jordi Valadon- sub ->Jake Brimmer
82'
Eli Adams- sub ->Daniel Arzani
Mohamed Al-Taay- sub ->Nicholas Pennington
83'
79'
Connor Chapman(goal)Nishan Velupillay
O. van Hattum- sub ->Lukas Kelly-Heald
83'
L. Supyk- sub ->Bozhidar Kraev
89'
82'
Eli Adams- sub ->Daniel Arzani
Mohamed Al-Taay- sub ->Nicholas Pennington
83'
O. van Hattum- sub ->Lukas Kelly-Heald
83'
L. Supyk- sub ->Bozhidar Kraev
89'
Alex Rufer(penalty)
90'
O. van Hattum(VAR)
90'
O. van Hattum- sub ->Lukas Kelly-Heald
83'
L. Supyk- sub ->Bozhidar Kraev
89'

Standings

Standings
Team
Pts
Pl
Last 5
Central Coast Mariners
55
27
Wellington Phoenix
53
27
Melbourne Victory
42
27
Sydney
41
27
Macarthur
41
27
Melbourne City
39
27
Western Sydney Wanderers
37
27
Adelaide United
32
27
Brisbane Roar
30
27
Newcastle Jets
28
27
Western United
26
27
Perth Glory
22
27

After this match, Wellington Phoenix has 25 points like Melbourne Victory to sit in the 2nd place. On the opposite side, Melbourne Victory will has 25 points like Wellington Phoenix to remain in the 1st place.

Next matches

Wellington Phoenix – Formation

Wellington Phoenix
G
A. Paulsen 40.New Zealand
7.9
D
F. Surman 3.New Zealand
7.3
D
Scott Wootton 4.England
6.7
D
L. Kelly-Heald 18.New Zealand
7.0
83'
M
Tim Payne 6.New Zealand
6.0
45'
M
Kosta Barbarouses 7.New Zealand
6.7
M
B. Old 8.New Zealand
7.0
M
David Ball 10.England
7.1
69'
M
Bozhidar Kraev 11.Bulgaria
6.4
89'
M
Alex Rufer 14.New Zealand
7.9
90'
M
Nicholas Pennington 15.Australia
6.4
83'
Substitutes
G
Jack Duncan 25.Australia
D
S. Sutton 19.New Zealand
6.6
69'
M
F. Conchie 5.New Zealand
M
Mohamed Al-Taay 12.Australia
6.4
83'
F
L. Supyk 23.New Zealand
6.4
89'
F
O. van Hattum 24.New Zealand
7.5
83'
F
G. Sloane-Rodrigues 51.New Zealand

Wellington Phoenix started with a 3-4-2-1 line-up (3-4-2-1).

The manager Giancarlo Italiano decided to play with the following team: Alex Paulsen (7.9), Finn Surman (7.3), Scott Wootton (6.7), Lukas Kelly-Heald (7.0), Tim Payne (6.0), Nicholas Pennington (6.4), Alex Rufer (7.9), Benjamin Old (7.0), Kosta Barbarouses (6.7), David Ball (7.1) and Bozhidar Kraev (6.4).

The home team had on the bench: Fin Conchie, Mohamed Al-Taay (6.4), Sam Sutton (6.6), L. Supyk (6.4), Oskar van Hattum (7.5), Jack Duncan and G. Sloane-Rodrigues.

Wellington Phoenix could not rely on the presence of L. Supyk (injured).

Substitutions

Wellington Phoenix made 9 changes: David Ball for Sam Sutton (69′), Lukas Kelly-Heald for Oskar van Hattum (83′), Nicholas Pennington for Mohamed Al-Taay (83′), Nicholas Pennington for Mohamed Al-Taay (83′), Bozhidar Kraev for L. Supyk (89′), Bozhidar Kraev for L. Supyk (89′), Lukas Kelly-Heald for Oskar van Hattum (83′), Lukas Kelly-Heald for Oskar van Hattum (83′) and Bozhidar Kraev for L. Supyk (89′).

Player of the match: Alex Rufer​

The player that probably impressed the most for Wellington Phoenix was Alex Rufer.

His rating is 7.9 with 1 goal, 21 passes (57% accurate) and 0 key passes. He won 7 duels out of 11.

Melbourne Victory – Formation

Melbourne Victory
G
Paul Izzo 20.Australia
7.1
D
Jason Geria 2.Australia
7.0
D
A. Traoré 3.Ivory Coast
7.1
63' 36'
D
Damien Da Silva 5.France
7.0
D
Roderick Miranda 21.Portugal
7.3
M
Rai Marchán 4.Spain
6.7
63'
M
Zinédine Machach 8.France
7.9
M
N. Velupillay 17.Australia
7.1
M
Daniel Arzani 19.Australia
7.3
82'
M
Jake Brimmer 22.Australia
8.4
74'
F
Chris Ikonomidis 7.Australia
7.0
63'
Substitutes
G
Christian Siciliano 40.Australia
D
Connor Chapman 14.Australia
7.1
63' 79'
D
Jordi Valadon 27.Australia
7.0
74'
D
F. Lino 28.Australia
M
R. Teague 25.Australia
6.7
63'
F
Ben Folami 11.Australia
6.7
63'
F
Eli Adams 24.Australia
6.4
82'

Melbourne Victory started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

Tony Popović played with: Paul Izzo (7.1), Jason Geria (7.0), Damien Da Silva (7.0), Roderick Miranda (7.3), Adama Traoré (7.1), Jake Brimmer (8.4), Rai Marchán (6.7), Daniel Arzani (7.3), Zinédine Machach (7.9), Nishan Velupillay (7.1) and Christopher Ikonomidis (7.0).

They had on the bench: Ben Folami (6.7), Connor Chapman (7.1), Eli Adams (6.4), Ryan Teague (6.7), Jordi Valadon (7.0), Franco Lino and Christian Siciliano.

Melbourne Victory could not rely on the presence of Jordi Valadon (injured), Eli Adams (injured) and Eli Adams (injured).

Substitutions

Melbourne Victory made 6 changes: Christopher Ikonomidis for Connor Chapman (63′), Adama Traoré for Ben Folami (63′), Rai Marchán for Ryan Teague (63′), Jake Brimmer for Jordi Valadon (74′), Daniel Arzani for Eli Adams (82′) and Daniel Arzani for Eli Adams (82′).

Player of the match: Jake Brimmer​

The most impressive player for Melbourne Victory was Jake Brimmer.

His rating is 8.4 with 79 passes (91% accurate) and 2 key passes. He won 6 duels out of 8. He performed 3 crosses.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the A-League Men.​