Taking to Wanderers Football Park on Thursday just days after head coach Robbie Hooker left his post for personal reasons, bottom-two team Western Sydney endured a nightmare against a dominant Phoenix side.
With interim appointment Geoff Abrahams at the helm, the Wanderers were hit with a sucker punch in the 34th minute when Sham Khamis was sent off for fouling Olivia Fergusson outside the box.
In a bid to stave off a 'Nix attack led by Fergusson, Khamis left her post and leaped, making contact with the striker's chest on the way down and sending her to the ground.
Khamis was immediately apologetic but was given her marching orders.
.— Ninja A-League (@aleaguewomen) @WSWanderWomen are down to 10 players against Wellington Phoenix! 🟥Goalkeeper Sham Khamis received a straight red card after a collision with Olivia Fergusson.📺 Watch #WSWvWEL live now on Paramount+ and 10 Play. pic.twitter.com/mPJ1ACbIxfJanuary 9, 2025
Wanderers star Sophie Harding had a shocker less than a minute earlier after missing the goal from point-blank range.
Set up by Danika Matos and with 'Nix keeper Carolina Vilao way off her line, Harding simply had to toe-poke the ball home.
Instead, the reigning Julie Dolan Medallist struggled to find her feet and defender Mackenzie Barry was able to clear the ball.
Wellington added to the Wanderers' woes just seven seconds into the second half when Alyssa Whinham drew first blood with a superb long-range goal.
Alivia Kelly then twisted the dagger in the 59th minute, before substitute Emma Main put an exclamation mark on the win for the visitors in the 83rd minute.
"You go into half-time with plans to do something special and maybe grab something out of a game where we're up against it, but then you cop a goal from the kick-off - it stings," Abrahams told AAP.
"The girls worked really hard for each other, did everything they could, but Wellington are a decent team with the ball."
Emma Main hit the scoreboard late in Wellington Phoenix's 3-0 win over the Wanderers. (Marty Melville/AAP PHOTOS)
The 'Nix rise to fourth on the table after notching their fifth win of the season, while the hosts remain 11th on six points.
"It's hard for Western Sydney to play for so long with 10 players, but then the expectation then falls on us," Phoenix coach Paul Temple told AAP.
"We've never had that situation before, so it put pressure on us to win.
"We've been building that confidence back up again and now we're starting to really look like a team that is confident in the way that we can play and move the ball."
It was all Wellington at the Wanderers' home venue, the visitors taking 40 shots to Western Sydney's miserly four across the two halves.
Phoenix captain Annalie Longo led by example and fired a warning shot with a sweeping right-foot corner kick in the second minute, just missing the net for the crossbar to put Khamis on notice.
Longo tested Khamis again just two minutes later with another corner kick, setting up Barry's clinical header to force Khamis to prove her mettle.
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