A big night for the Wellington Phoenix as they farewelled club stalwart David Ball, had a set of twins on the field and gained a vaulable point.
Sydney thought they had a win with a penalty in the 69th minute however it was overturned upon VAR review as Wellington defender Isaac Hughes was adjudged to have made contact with the ball before Patryk Klimala went to ground.
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It extended Sydney’s drought away to the Phoenix in New Zealand to six years while history was made as Wellington goalkeeper Alby Kelly-Heald was handed his starting A-Leagues debut at the expense of number one shot-stopper Josh Oluwayemi at Sky Stadium.
With brother Lukas also in the line-up, it meant there were only the third set of twins to play in an A-League match, and the youngest at 19-years-old. The duo were also the first twins to play for the Phoenix and they helped keep a clean sheet.
After ending their two-game losing streak, the Phoenix are ninth and seven points outside the top six, including Sydney, who move into the top four.
The Phoenix fired an early warning shot via Kosta Barbarouses, who was chasing his 100th goal.
Sydney applied pressure as the half wore on and dominated periods of the contest but the Phoenix – coming off back-to-back losses, managed to deal with Joe Lolley and Co.
Harrison Devenish-Meares did not have too much to do in the opening half, though the Sky Blues goalkeepers was forced into a diving save by Isaac Hughes with half-time approaching.
Sydney tried their luck from distance a couple of times, with Alby Kelly-Heald keeping out Adrian Segecic’s long-range effort in the second half, which was disrupted by injuries to Wellington full-back Sam Sutton and Sydney’s Zac De Jesus.
Patryk Klimala had a great chance to put Sydney ahead in the 66th minute but Sydney’s former Celtic striker directed his header just over the crossbar after finding himself unmarked.
The referee awarded Sydney a penalty in the 69th minute after Klimala went down under a Hughes challenge and the Phoenix defender immediately protested his innocence and the decision was overturned upon a VAR review.