Krishna hat-trick seals last-gasp win for Phoenix over Melbourne City

A Roy Krishna hat-trick kept alive Wellington’s hopes of hosting an A-League home final.

Three goals from Roy Krishna earned Wellington a 3-2 win over Melbourne City at Westpac Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

A Roy Krishna hat-trick earned Wellington a last-gasp 3-2 win over Melbourne City to keep alive their hopes of hosting an A-League home final.

Krishna tucked home the winner from a goalmouth scramble in the 94th minute to cap a thrilling contest on Sunday in Wellington that the visitors had mostly dominated.

Riley McGree scored twice for City, both times cancelling out Krishna strikes, but the home team held firm to cement fifth place and line up a shot at a fourth-placed finish in next week’s final round.

City are all but guaranteed to finish sixth, which would set up a Melbourne derby in the first round of the playoffs.

The Phoenix will need to pick up points away to Perth and hope Adelaide slip up in Brisbane if they are leapfrog the fourth-placed Reds.

As has been the case for much of the campaign, red-hot striker Krishna proved the difference.

His first hat-trick of the season lifts him to 18 goals — two ahead of Sydney FC’s Adam le Fondre in the Golden Boot race.

He also overtakes Jeremy Brockie as the leading scorer for the Phoenix in a season. Brockie notched 16 goals in 2012-13.

McGree’s selection was an inspired move by City coach Warren Joyce. He was the only change to the visitors’ starting XI who drew 0-0 last week with Adelaide, replacing Kearyn Baccus in the midfield.

And City deserved to win on weight of possession and chances, unleashing nine shots on goal to six.

Wellington goalkeeper Filip Kurto was immense, making a handful of sharp saves, just as he did when the Phoenix won 1-0 when the two sides met in January.

It was potentially the last game in Wellington for departing coach Mark Rudan, who was given a rousing reception by Phoenix fans as he left the ground.

A counter-attack led to Krishna’s opener, a nifty finish after being played through by Max Burgess in the 27th minute.

City responded with McGree carefully placing the ball past Kurto in the 42nd minute after the Polish keeper had made successive reaction saves to two fearsome Jamie Maclaren strikes.

Krishna scored against the run of play soon after the break, rifling home a left-foot strike from the edge of the box.

McGree’s equaliser on 66 minutes was high quality, twisting to connect first time with a clearance that was moving away from goal.

AAP