Oskar Zawada of the Phoenix celebrates after scoring a goal during the A League Men - Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar at Sky Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday 4 November 2023 Copyright photo: Masanori Udagawa / www.photosport.nz Photo: Masanori Udagawa
A troublesome back injury threatened to disrupt Phoenix linchpin Oskar Zawada in the Wellington side's latest A-League outing.
Instead the Polish striker scored a brilliant hatrick in the Phoenix men's 5-2 A-League romp against the Brisbane Roar in round three.
Zawada showed no signs of tightness as he dispatched three goals into the back of the net at Wellington Stadium against a sloppy Roar side.
Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano said Zawada's work rate was exceptional in posting his maiden league hatrick.
"Something that wasn't known, he suffered a bit of an injury two days ago at training," the head coach said after the match.
"He had a problem with his back, so the fact that he carried on was impressive."
Tim Payne scored his first league goal, while Bozhidar Kraev booted a sublime lofted goal to take Wellington's points tally to seven and at least temporarily moves the Nix to the top of the bunched A-League competition ladder.
The Roar scored within the first minute in a promising start but were unable to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
"The fact that the boys rallied straight after that, they settled down, they were really good," Giancarlo Italiano said.
Phoenix keeper Alex Paulsen made a save in the 88th minute to deny the Roar a late lifeline.
In a quick turnaround, the Phoenix men will be back in action on Friday night when they visit fellow high-flyers Melbourne Victory in round four.
After three rounds the Phoenix have posted back-to-back wins and a first round draw.
Phoenix women win
And their women's side beat Brisbane 2-1 to claim their first-ever back-to-back win, spurred by captain Annalie Longo's spectacular late goal.
Annalie Longo of the Phoenix celebrates after scoring a goal during the A League Women - Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar at Sky Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand on Saturday 4 November 2023 Copyright photo: Masanori Udagawa / www.photosport.nz Photo: Masanori Udagawa
Longo's 85th minute goal was lauded by the coach Paul Temple.
"A moment of magic that I know she's been waiting a long, long time to have so I'm really pleased for her and a great way to start her Phoenix career," he said.