Kosta Barbarouses of Wellington Phoenix Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
The Wellington's Phoenix's unbeaten run has come to a crashing halt in the A-League after a 1-0 defeat to mid-table Melbourne City.
Melbourne's three-time premiers beat the Phoenix in stifling heat in the Victorian capital, ending Wellington's 10-match unbeaten run.
The Phoenix lead the competition by three points but the second-placed Central Coast Mariners can join the Wellington side at the top of the table if they win their match against Macarthur today.
Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was far from downcast after the game which offered plenty of chances for both sides.
"It's unrealistic to think you can win every game," Italiano said.
"This is a good lesson for us that if we play like that now for the rest of the season that's not going to be enough…to get the points that we need."
And he admitted his side historically found Melbourne a difficult place to play.
"Every time we've come here we always struggle to get a result," he said.
"I thought we had some good patches in the game. It was a pretty even game the first half. I think they probably had some better chances...but in the end they probably deserved to win.
"Defeat is a really good thing in terms of any team wanting to progress. It can't be all roses all the time. There needs to be some fall in order to hit the heights that you want."
Italiano made just one change to the XI which started Sunday's 3-2 win over Adelaide United, with top goal scorer Kosta Barbarouses replacing Mo Al-Taay. Fit-again midfielder Nicholas Pennington and teenager Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues were brought on to the bench.
City had the better of the early possession and had three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes but none of them threatened Alex Paulsen's goal.
Paulsen was tested soon after and made a superb point blank save to keep out a header from young City forward Max Caputo.
He snuffed out another opportunity for Caputo in the 26th minute with help from Phoenix centre back Finn Surman.
Barbarouses had registered the first shot on target in the 10th minute when his half-volley bounced kindly into the arms of City goalkeeper Jamie Young.
The Nix were otherwise unable to test Young in the first half, with their limited shots either blocked or wide of goal. Ben Old came closest in the 41st minute when he blazed narrowly over the bar from a tight angle.
The second half started in a similar fashion with City continuing to create the majority of the goalscoring chances, and Paulsen made a comfortable save at his near post in the 57th minute to keep out a shot from Vicente Fernandez.
His teammate Samuel Souprayen finally broke the deadlock moments later, heading home a well-worked short corner at the back post.
Italiano brought on Al-Taay, Pennington and Sam Sutton in the second half as the Phoenix pressed for an equaliser, and they started to create more goalscoring opportunities.
Their best chance fell to Kosta Barbarouses in the 81st minute. Bozhidar Kraev slipped the veteran forward in behind the hosts' defence with a perfectly weighted pass, but Barbarouses put his shot wide of the right-hand post.
The Wellington Phoenix play Sydney FC at Eden Park next Saturday.
