Phoenix leave it late in Australia Cup
Photo:
Marty Melville / PHOTOSPORT
The Wellington Phoenix are into the quarter-finals of the Australia Cup.
Forward Hideki Ishige headed home a corner in the 94th minute to see off Nunawading City 1-0 in their round of 16 tie at Nasiol Stadium in Melbourne.
Nunawading had frustrated the Nix for large periods, particularly in the first half, and their goalkeeper made some sharp saves to keep Wellington scoreless until second half stoppage time.
The Phoenix's substitutes all made an impact with recent arrival Carlo Armiento providing the pinpoint delivery for Ishige's match-winner.
Head coach Giancarlo Italiano was happy with the team's second half performance.
"I thought that we showed a lot more discipline and intent to go forward," Italiano said post-match.
"I thought the first half was very disappointing in terms of executing our gameplan. The pitch didn't help. It's not an excuse because they had to play on it as well, and credit to them they defended very well.
"I thought their goalkeeper did exceptionally well, especially in that second half, but I think with the amount of chances we made in that second half we should have won the game by a couple more.
"I never felt at all in that game that they were going to score. It was just a matter of when we were going to score and finish the game.
"I'm not really fazed about the fact that we had wait until the 94th minute. I was buoyed by the fact that in the second half I got the response that I wanted."
The Nix now await the winner of Tuesday night's round of 16 match between Heidelberg United and Western Sydney Wanderers in the quarter-finals, which will be played later this month.
The Australia Cup is a knockout tournament which is played before the A-League season.
Auckland City play South Melbourne on Wednesday.
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