Football: Wellington Phoenix return to A-League summit, take victory in seven-goal thriller against Perth Glory

Wellington Phoenix have returned to the top of the men's A-League, courtesy of a thrilling 4-3 victory over Perth Glory in Sydney on Sunday.  

Another Kosta Barbarouses double - taking his recent goal tally to eight in his last five appearances - saw the Phoenix home, and overtake Melbourne Victory, courtesy of win count.  

The Phoenix have seven wins so far this season, to go with three draws and two defeats. Those seven wins have come in just 12 games, closing in on last season's regular-season record of nine wins in 26 games.  

After just seven minutes, the Phoenix fell behind as Perth striker Adam Taggart's looping header left Alex Paulsen having to pick the ball out of his own net.

But Barbarouses hit back twenty minutes later, as an incisive ball down the wing saw the All Whites forward cut back onto his left foot, and rifle a shot to the near post to beat Glory keeper Cameron Cook.  

The strike saw Barbarouses continue his free-flowing run of scoring, with goals now in each of his last five matches.  

The Phoenix took the lead before the break, through the unlikely boot of captain Alex Rufer. As Bozhidar Kraev went down inside the penalty area, the Glory defence switched off amid the Phoenix's appeals for a penalty.  

But not wasting the initiative, Rufer drove a first-time effort past a diving Cook and gave the Phoenix the lead for the first time on the night.  

The second-half saw the heavens open over Parramatta, as defender Aleksandar Susnjar equalised in the 50th minute, beating Paulsen with a rocket into the top of the net that will almost certainly contend for goal of the season.  

Undeterred, the Phoenix hit back through a defender of their own, when Tim Payne lashed a Barbarouses pull-back past Cook to restore the Kiwi side's lead.  

Coming off the bench, Perth's Jarrod Carluccio equalised yet again, showing clean footwork to find space to get a shot away inside the penalty area, and getting the better of left back Sam Sutton.  

Despite the quality of all six goals to that point, it was arguably the ugliest that earned the Phoenix the three points.  

As Payne broke down the right, freed by Rufer, a cross back into the area saw Barbarouses fire point blank at the keeper, as Cook could only parry into his own net.

The win takes the Phoenix back to the top of the A-League on the new rule which sees teams sorted by number of wins, as opposed to goal difference.  

Melbourne Victory meanwhile sit second, despite boasting the same number of points and a superior goal difference over Giancarlo Italiano's side, with six wins and six draws.  

The two sides can play for the outright lead on Friday, though, when the Phoenix host the Victory in Wellington.   

The teams have already met once this season, where the Phoenix snatched a 1-1 draw, despite not registering a shot on target in the entire 90 minutes.  

Wellington Phoenix 4 (Barbarouses 2, Rufer, Payne)  

Perth Glory 3 (Taggart, Susnjar, Carluccio)

Wellington Phoenix have returned to the top of the men's A-League, courtesy of a thrilling 4-3 victory over Perth Glory in Sydney on Sunday.  

Another Kosta Barbarouses double - taking his recent goal tally to eight in his last five appearances - saw the Phoenix home, and overtake Melbourne Victory, courtesy of win count.  

The Phoenix have seven wins so far this season, to go with three draws and two defeats. Those seven wins have come in just 12 games, closing in on last season's regular-season record of nine wins in 26 games.  

After just seven minutes, the Phoenix fell behind as Perth striker Adam Taggart's looping header left Alex Paulsen having to pick the ball out of his own net.

But Barbarouses hit back twenty minutes later, as an incisive ball down the wing saw the All Whites forward cut back onto his left foot, and rifle a shot to the near post to beat Glory keeper Cameron Cook.  

The strike saw Barbarouses continue his free-flowing run of scoring, with goals now in each of his last five matches.  

The Phoenix took the lead before the break, through the unlikely boot of captain Alex Rufer. As Bozhidar Kraev went down inside the penalty area, the Glory defence switched off amid the Phoenix's appeals for a penalty.  

But not wasting the initiative, Rufer drove a first-time effort past a diving Cook and gave the Phoenix the lead for the first time on the night.  

The second-half saw the heavens open over Parramatta, as defender Aleksandar Susnjar equalised in the 50th minute, beating Paulsen with a rocket into the top of the net that will almost certainly contend for goal of the season.  

Undeterred, the Phoenix hit back through a defender of their own, when Tim Payne lashed a Barbarouses pull-back past Cook to restore the Kiwi side's lead.  

Coming off the bench, Perth's Jarrod Carluccio equalised yet again, showing clean footwork to find space to get a shot away inside the penalty area, and getting the better of left back Sam Sutton.  

Despite the quality of all six goals to that point, it was arguably the ugliest that earned the Phoenix the three points.  

As Payne broke down the right, freed by Rufer, a cross back into the area saw Barbarouses fire point blank at the keeper, as Cook could only parry into his own net.

The win takes the Phoenix back to the top of the A-League on the new rule which sees teams sorted by number of wins, as opposed to goal difference.  

Melbourne Victory meanwhile sit second, despite boasting the same number of points and a superior goal difference over Giancarlo Italiano's side, with six wins and six draws.  

The two sides can play for the outright lead on Friday, though, when the Phoenix host the Victory in Wellington.   

The teams have already met once this season, where the Phoenix snatched a 1-1 draw, despite not registering a shot on target in the entire 90 minutes.  

Wellington Phoenix 4 (Barbarouses 2, Rufer, Payne)  

Perth Glory 3 (Taggart, Susnjar, Carluccio)

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