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Wanderers floundering in A-League

The Western Sydney Wanderers have fallen back to Earth following their Asian Champions League win, after suffering a hard-fought 1-0 A-League loss to the Wellington Phoenix.

Nathan Burns’ clinical finish in the 80th minute secured the win for Wellington.

The result leaves the Wanderers, backing up from their trip to Saudi Arabia and ACL win over Al-Hilal, without a win at the bottom of the A-League table.

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They had started brightly, with Socceroo Nikita Rukavytsya looking sharp on his club debut in testing Ben Sigmund down the left with his pace and control.

Rukavytsya’s combination with Tomi Juric and Romeo Castelen proved a challenge, but the Phoenix’s defensive lapses of previous weeks were missing and the back four held strong.

However, both teams lacked accuracy early on, and there were few clear-cut opportunities.

A handball from Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic just outside the area in the 25th minute gave the Phoenix their first set piece chance, but Michael McGlinchey’s free kick skewed just wide.

For Wellington, Alex Rodriguez and Roly Bonevacia combining fluently in the midfield and Louis Fenton adding pace and variation when he ranged up the right.

Burns was a constant threat up front, and Nigerian defender Sevi Adeleke had to work hard to keep him in check, although McGlinchey continued to create Wellington’s best chances.

He closed out the first half with a pinpoint free kick right on the whistle, Fenton just failing to connect with a diving header on the far post.

The stalemate continued after the restart, both teams struggling to build pressure.

Fenton slammed a sharp chance into the side netting after Burns sliced through into the box, and sub Roy Krishna volleyed high from close range soon after he was subbed on at 70 minutes.

It was Krishna’s combination with Bonevacia which set up Burns’ goal, his fourth of the season.

It was enough to secure the three points, McGlinchey’s 86th penalty miss after Adeleke brought down Burns in the box ultimately proving irrelevant to the result.

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