Jacob Perdigão Martins Blakeney
17 January, 2026
Wellington Phoenix waited until the very end to take advantage of having the extra player to earn the win at McKellar Park.
Canberra United were the busier side in attack in the first half, but for all of their opportunities they weren’t able to trouble Phoenix keeper Victoria Esson.
An early yellow card for United defender Tegan Bertolissio became a red card just before half time when she upended Wellington striker Makala Woods.
Canberra didn’t look as though they were down a player on resumption of the second half, continuing to dominate attacking play but still without anything on the scoreboard.
After absorbing Canberra’s pressure for 90 minutes, Wellington made the most of a counter attack. Brooke Nunn overlapped on the right before seeing her deflected cross fall neatly at the feet of Zoe Benson.
With Canberra desperate to find an equaliser, goalkeeper Sally James was sent up to contest a corner kick and whilst she did scramble back to try and stop the Phoenix counter attack, she couldn’t stop Pia Vlok’s finish from long range.
The win moves Wellington up to seventh on the table, while Canberra stay in second for now.
