Roly Bonevacia may well be on his way out of Wellington Phoenix, but he is going to leave them with some terrific memories if his performance against Melbourne Victory can somehow inspire a late run into the finals.
The Dutchman - widely reported to be joining Western Sydney Wanderers next season - produced a virtuoso first 45 minutes at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon. The star midfielder helped the Kiwis claim a rare away win in Melbourne, handing Victory their first league defeat at AAMI Park in more than a year in the process.
Bonevacia scored twice in the opening 25 minutes to set up the platform for an unlikely finals charge by the Phoenix, but his contribution went well beyond two long-range strikes in this 3-0 win, sealed in the last minute by a Shane Smeltz tap-in.
He was the go-to man for the visitors when the game needed to be won, and showed a willingness to take players on and thread passes through for his speedy forwards, Kosta Barbarouses and Roy Krishna, whose direct running and readiness to take on defenders unsettled a rather stodgy Victory.
Granted, Bonevacia was given far too much license by Victory's midfielders who stood off and gave him space in which to work, but the Dutchman showed just what an impact he can have when in the mood and given the opportunity.
He opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a terrific drive from outside the area after taking advantage of slipshod marking which left him with plenty of space to line up his shot and beat Lawrence Thomas. Using placement and power, the ball curled just inside the post to find the back of the net.
Victory appeared unconcerned by what should have been a clear wake-up call, much to the annoyance of gesticulating coach Kevin Muscat.
After seeing his side comprehensively outplayed, Muscat admitted it was a 'reality check'.
"From start to finish it was nowhere near good enough. I can understand that we are second and we can't finish top...and all those type of things, but we still have so much to play for.
"We were second best. I can't remember the last time I have come in so disappointed in the performance."
A certain sense of inertia may have been expected of the hosts given that their second spot on the A-League ladder has been locked in for weeks, with a certain semi-final later in the month regardless of results in their last few games.
But they were worryingly soporific from the start in their outing against a spirited Wellington.
Second to the ball, outpaced, out-thought and sluggish all over the park, Victory continually came out second-best against a Phoenix side desperately scrambling to make the play-offs.
All dynamism and urgency in the match was coming from the men in grey. Former Victory star Kosta Barbarouses fired in a cross which Krishna flicked just wide, before Bonevacia linked up with two team-mates in an excellent move which ended with the Fijian international Krishna driving a shot just over the bar.
Bonevacia doubled the Phoenix lead on 25 minutes, and it was once again through a well-struck drive from distance, although once more he was given far too much time and space by a lacklustre Victory midfield.
The ball beat Lawrence Thomas' dive, hit one post, rolled along the line and then bounced off the other and into the net: it was the sort of trajectory that delights physicists and anyone interested in equations involving time, movement, mass and direction.
Victory just couldn't find their mojo. Passes were over-hit or misdirected, wrong options chosen, the odd chance spurned. Jason Geria, the full back of whom so much was expected this season, had a particularly harrowing 45 minutes, losing control and letting the ball roll out of play on at least two occasions.
Muscat clearly gave his men a motivational talk at half time, as the navy blues began the second half with much more gusto.
But they struggled to create meaningful opportunities, and more than an hour had passed before Rojas tested Lewis Italiano with a low shot which the Phoenix goalkeeper easily dealt with.
Things went from bad to worse for Muscat's men late in the game when defender Alan Baro brought down Barbarouses as he hared towards goal. The Spaniard was the last man, and referee Jarred Gillett was in no doubts about showing the red card.
Baro will now miss next weekend's trip to Western Sydney, while Wellington will hope to keep their hopes alive by defeating premiers Sydney at home. With Bonevacia in this kind of form, they'll fancy their chances. Sixth-placed Perth Glory will be looking over their shoulders until the Kiwi challenge is mathematically over.
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