Roy Bonevacia brilliance inspires Phoenix to win over Reds

Sparked by an barnstorming Roly Bonevacia brace, Wellington Phoenix downed Adelaide United 4-2 in a high-octane sixth-round A-League clash at Westpac Stadium on Friday.

Bonevacia, creating goals when he wasn't scoring them, scored in each half, with Roy Krishna and Matt Ridenton also providing classy finishes.

For the Reds, Craig Goodwin's third minute opener was complemented in the 89th minute by Pablo Sanchez's far post header.

Missing five players on All Whites duty, including creative midfielder Michael McGlinchey, the Phoenix dominated the second spell after leading 2-1 at halftime.

Adelaide had let in 10 goals in their past three games, all losses, and scored just three.

But they stunned the boisterous 13,654-strong home crowd into silence less than three minutes after the first whistle.

Tarek Elrich's pace opened up space down the left, and all it took was a quick one-two with Sergio Cirio to slice the Phoenix defence open.

Cirio's cross was good, and Craig Goodwin was left with the simplest of finishes to give Adelaide the early lead.

It lasted barely a minute, Wellington cashing in on a miscommunication between central defender Osama Malik and goalkeeper John Hall.

Krishna, showing little sign of tiredness from his outing for Fiji in Vanuatu on Tuesday, ran onto Ben Sigmund's clearance and finished clinically to level the scores.

Adelaide continued to push forward, with Bruce Djite in particular testing the back four with his pace and power while Goodwin and Cirio combined dangerously to keep Wellington keeper Glen Moss busy.

Krishna's pace down the right proved key in the 22nd minute, the 28-year-old striker cutting inside and pulling the ball back for Roly Bonevacia's cool finish.

Wellington's 2-1 halftime lead came under immediate threat after the restart, Alex Rodriguez's handball gifting Adelaide a free kick from just outside the penalty area.

Goodwin's strike cleared the wall, and forced a fine diving save fromm Moss, but while the Reds were ruing a missed chance Wellington stormed back.

Bonevacia was allowed too much room, and put his foot through a blistering shot which left Hall stranded as it crashed into the top left corner.

Wellington's work off the ball kept Adelaide's defence stretched wide, and they continued to create chances.

Jeffrey Sarpong's 64th minute strike crashed off the upright before sub Ridenton extended the Phoenix lead four minutes later with a clinical finish on the far post from Bonevacia's sweetly placed cross.

Adelaide hauled one back through Sanchez in the 89th minute, but Wellington looked in complete control right to the final whistle.

1:34 AM