Zawada hat-trick sinks sloppy Roar

Aided by errors from Roar captain Tom Aldred and goalkeeper Macklin Freke, the Phoenix spanked Brisbane 5-2 at Sky Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The win maintained Wellington’s unbeaten start to the season, but for the Roar, it’s back to the drawing board after having secured a draw and a victory from their opening two games of the season.

“It’s not good enough,” a disappointed Aldred told Sky Sport.

“You’re not going to win games if you concede five goals. It’s not like us.

“It’s important that we regroup … and learn from today.”

Fresh off their 3-0 round two victory over Sydney FC at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane seemed on target for back-to-back wins when they went ahead after just 31 seconds through playmaker Florin Berenguer.

Brisbane immediately attacked the left side of Wellington’s defence, with midfielder Joe Caletti playing the final pass to Berenguer, who took a touch in the Phoenix penalty area before unleashing with a shot that was too good for goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.

However, the shell-shocked hosts fought back to equalise in the 24th minute through the unlikely source of right-back Tim Payne, who scored for the first time in 93 A-League appearances.

A rare error from Brisbane skipper Aldred then gifted Wellington the lead in the 32nd minute.

Aldred’s stray back pass left goalkeeper Freke stranded, with Wellington’s Polish marksman Zawada pouncing on the loose ball to score,

“I should have looked up before I played the ball back. I played it back blind,” Aldred said.

The see-sawing nature of the contest continued in the 53rd minute when Nikola Mileusnic equalised for Brisbane with a shot that deflected off Phoenix defender Lukas Kelly-Heald.

However, the Phoenix took just five minutes to regain the lead through Bulgarian forward Bozhidar Kraev.

Wellington went further ahead in the 63rd minute when Zawada scored his second for the match after Roar keeper Freke made a mess in attempting to deal with a cross from Kelly-Heald.

Zawada provided the icing on the cake in stoppage time, tapping home from close range to score his third goal of the match and fourth of the season.

Fast Florin

Frenchman Florin Berenguer became the fastest scorer of a Brisbane Roar goal in A-League history when he found the back of the net after just 31 seconds.

It was the second week in succession that Brisbane scored a goal inside the first minute, with Henry Hore netting in the 48th second of the Roar’s 3-0 win over Sydney FC in round two.

Hore’s effort was the Roar’s fourth fastest in history behind Berenguer, Robbie Kruse (35 seconds, v Newcastle Jets, October 2007) and Besart Berisha (48 seconds, v Melbourne Victory, February 2012).

Originally published as Striker Oskar Zawada stars for Wellington Phoenix in win over Brisbane Roar