Wellington Phoenix inflicted another defeat on Tony Popovic's Western Sydney Wanderers side as a first-half Roy Krishna goal gave the home side a 1-0 victory at Wellington Regional Stadium.
The in-form Nathan Burns stung the hands of Ante Covic after five minutes with a fierce strike from the edge of the area, before the home side took the lead through Krishna on 14 minutes.
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The goal came when 17-year-old Sydney defender Daniel Alessi was ruled to have clipped the heels of Krisha in the box, with the Fijian then seeing his spot-kick saved by Conte, only to fire home the rebound.
Brendan Hamill nearly leveled the tie on the half-hour mark when he rose highest to meet a deep free kick, but the Sydney man could only power his header straight into the arms of the grateful Glen Moss.
On the stroke of half time, Krishna nearly grabbed his second of the game after a flowing Wellington attack, but Covic was able to turn his rasping effort from just six yards out around the post.
Sydney rallied in the second half and had several excellent chances to snatch a draw, most notably in the final minute when Moss's intervention kept the away side out following a goalmouth scramble.
The result leaves Sydney rooted to the bottom of the A-League as speculation mounts that Popovic will be offered the manager's position at Crystal Palace, following Neil Warnock's departure.
Joe Sharratt
