The second legs of the A-League Semi Finals are here, with Wellington Phoenix hosting Melbourne Victory before Sydney FC make the trip to Central Coast.
Last weekend saw the Mariners get the better of the Sky Blues while Victory and Wellington could not be separated at AAMI Park.
Held to a scoreless draw at home in the first leg of their A-League Men semi-final against Wellington, Melbourne Victory will turn their attention to attempting to ruin the Phoenix’s home fairytale.
Victory travel to Sky Stadium with it all to do next Saturday after failing to genuinely trouble Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at AAMI Park – despite their 20 shots, of which five were on target.
Most of those efforts were either from distance or straight at Paulsen, while Phoenix captain Alex Rufer did a mountain of work in midfield to minimise the threat.
Wellington had six shots of their own, but none on target in front of 16,313 fans – including a sizeable number of travelling supporters.
It gives the Phoenix the upper hand ahead of their debut home semi-final as they attempt to reach a decider for the first time.
It’s going to be a big task for the boys in blue, with the Nix having only lost one match in New Zealand for the entire season and are currently unbeaten in nine matches in the Ring of Fire.
With no aggregate from last week, whoever wins this match will be through to the grand final, with Victory looking for their seventh appearance.
Meanwhile, Sydney FC’s grand final hopes are hanging by a thread after Jack Rodwell and Corey Hollman were sent off in the 2-1 semi-final loss to the Central Coast Mariners.
Sydney were forced to play the last 10 minutes of last Friday’s first leg at Allianz Stadium with nine men, and will be without Rodwell and Hollman for the second leg in Gosford.
Rodwell was dismissed after a studs-up challenge on Mariners flyer Christian Theoharous midway through the second half, while Hollman was shown a second yellow in the 82nd minute.
Sydney’s weakened squad, coupled with homeground advantage for Central Coast in the second leg, should work in the Mariners’ favour.
Crucially for Mark Jackson’s side it keeps the flame burning for a remarkable treble after they added the AFC Cup in Oman earlier this week to the A-League premiers’ plate they secured on May 1.
Sydney need to win by two goals or more based on the aggregate if they want to play in their eighth grand final or else it’ll head to penalties, while the Mariners hope for the treble in what would be their sixth grand final appearance.
A-League Semi Finals Leg 2
Saturday May 18
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne Victory, 4.30pm AEST
Central Coast Mariners vs Sydney FC, 7.45pm AEST
With AAP*