Wellington Phoenix beat Perth Glory in seven-goal thriller to reclaim ...

At CommBank Stadium, Parramatta: Wellington Phoenix 4 (Kosta Barbarouses 29’ 73’, Alex Rufer 45+2’, Tim Payne 57’) Perth Glory 3 (Adam Taggart 7’, Aleksandar Šušnjar 50’, Jarrod Carluccio 70’) HT: 2-1

Wellington Phoenix have reclaimed the overall lead in the A-League Men after beating Perth Glory in a seven-goal thriller in Parramatta on Sunday night.

Key man Kosta Barbarouses led the way with another well-taken double, continuing his searing form in front of goal, as the Phoenix overcame an early deficit to claim a stunning 4-3 win at CommBank Stadium.

The result saw the Phoenix leapfrog Melbourne Victory into first place on win count, setting up a blockbuster clash between the competition’s top-two teams back in Wellington on Friday night.

The Kiwis came to the fore for the Phoenix on the final night of Unite Round, with the goals shared between New Zealand internationals Barbarouses (two), Alex Rufer and Tim Payne.

The scorers all combined on the match-winner, a well-worked goal scored by Barbarouses in the 73rd minute, to continue the Phoenix’s recent dominance against Perth.

Rufer played Payne down the right with a diagonal pass that split two defenders and Barbarouses made an awkward finish look easy when he put his studs through the ball at knee height to slot home the winner.

The Phoenix have now gone nine games without defeat against the Glory.

Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

In-form Wellington Phoenix striker Kosta Barbarouses bagged another brace to beat Perth Glory at CommBank Stadium.

Barbarouses’s brace took his season goal tally to eight and he became just the third player in Phoenix history to score in five consecutive matches, tying the record held by Oskar Zawada and Tomer Hemed.

The Phoenix came into Unite Round on a two-game winless run and they got off to a rocky start when Perth opened the scoring through Socceroos striker Adam Taggart’s bullet header in the seventh minute.

But the reborn Barbarouses drew the Phoenix level with a confident finish in the 29th minute, cutting inside Jacob Muir and firing the ball past Cam Cook with a left-footed striker at the near post.

After seizing control of the match, the Phoenix grabbed the lead on the cusp of halftime through an unlikely source.

Captain Alex Rufer scored for just the third time in his professional career when he rifled the ball into the bottom left corner from long-range.

Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Kosta Barbarouses congratulates captain Alex Rufer after his goal gave the Phoenix the lead heading into halftime.

The Phoenix appealed for a penalty when Bozhidar Kraev was pushed over in the box but Nicholas Pennington played to the whistle and when Perth’s defence switched off and teed up Rufer on the edge of the area.

Perth struck first in the second half when Aleksandar Šušnjar produced a goal of the season contender in the 50th minute.

The big centre-back charged through midfield and launched a rocket from distance over the top of Phoenix goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.

Barbarouses set up the Phoenix’s third, sprinting down the left wing and squaring a ball back for Payne to thump home after the pass evaded the initial target, David Ball.

Perth’s Jarrod Carluccio made it 3-3 with 20 minutes to go when he snuck in between Sam Sutton and Bozhidar Kraev and blasted the ball past Paulsen.

But after trading punches throughout the match, the Phoenix finally landed the knockout blow when Rufer sent Payne sprinting down the right and he whipped in a cross for Barbarouses to tap home.

In the form he’s in, Barbarouses was never going to miss from point-blank range.

Wellington will host 1 v 2 in the A-League Men on Friday night with the Phoenix taking on Melbourne Victory in a mouth-watering clash at Sky Stadium. The Phoenix played out a 1-1 draw in their last meeting against the Victory despite failing to register a single shot across the 90 minutes.