Wellington Phoenix's 10-game unbeaten streak has come to an end after a 1-0 loss to Melbourne City across the Tasman, the side's first defeat since December last year.
The current A-League leaders have remained at the top of the table but would drop down a spot if Central Coast Mariners defeat Macarthur Bulls later in the round.
Despite the disappointing result, Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was far from downcast after the game.
"It's unrealistic to think you can win every game," Italiano said. "And every time we've come here we always struggle to get a result. It's a hard place to play.
"I thought we had some good patches in the game. It was a pretty even game in the first half. I think they probably had some better chances.
"In the end, they probably deserved to win."
City, who remain seventh on the table, controlled much of the early possession, firing three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes.
Phoenix's keeper Alex Paulsen was tested soon after and made a superb point-blank save to keep out a header from young City forward Max Caputo.
Wellington struggled to create many chances early on, with most of their limited shots either blocked or wide of goal. In-form midfielder Ben Old came closest just before halftime when he blazed narrowly over the bar from a tight angle.
The second half started similarly with City continuing to create most of the goalscoring chances. French import Samuel Souprayen finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute heading in a well-worked set piece at the back post.
Wellington's best opportunity to save their unbeaten streak came with just 10 minutes remaining, however, striker Kosta Barbarouses was unable to capitalise on his one-on-one with the keeper, firing his shot wide.
With his team heading to Auckland's Eden Park for their next game against Sydney FC, Italiano says he is expecting a bounce back performance.
"You learn a lot more out of defeat than you do through victory," said the first-year head coach.
"I think the last time we lost to Sydney, we learnt a lot from that, Newcastle as well.
"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.
"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."
Wellington Phoenix's 10-game unbeaten streak has come to an end after a 1-0 loss to Melbourne City across the Tasman, the side's first defeat since December last year.
The current A-League leaders have remained at the top of the table but would drop down a spot if Central Coast Mariners defeat Macarthur Bulls later in the round.
Despite the disappointing result, Phoenix head coach Giancarlo Italiano was far from downcast after the game.
"It's unrealistic to think you can win every game," Italiano said. "And every time we've come here we always struggle to get a result. It's a hard place to play.
"I thought we had some good patches in the game. It was a pretty even game in the first half. I think they probably had some better chances.
"In the end, they probably deserved to win."
City, who remain seventh on the table, controlled much of the early possession, firing three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes.
Phoenix's keeper Alex Paulsen was tested soon after and made a superb point-blank save to keep out a header from young City forward Max Caputo.
Wellington struggled to create many chances early on, with most of their limited shots either blocked or wide of goal. In-form midfielder Ben Old came closest just before halftime when he blazed narrowly over the bar from a tight angle.
The second half started similarly with City continuing to create most of the goalscoring chances. French import Samuel Souprayen finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute heading in a well-worked set piece at the back post.
Wellington's best opportunity to save their unbeaten streak came with just 10 minutes remaining, however, striker Kosta Barbarouses was unable to capitalise on his one-on-one with the keeper, firing his shot wide.
With his team heading to Auckland's Eden Park for their next game against Sydney FC, Italiano says he is expecting a bounce back performance.
"You learn a lot more out of defeat than you do through victory," said the first-year head coach.
"I think the last time we lost to Sydney, we learnt a lot from that, Newcastle as well.
"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.
"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."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
