Milos Ninkovic strikes late to seal win for Sydney FC over Phoenix

Sydney FC edged Wellington Phoenix 1-0 with a 92nd minute winner from Milos Ninkovic at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.

The Phoenix, who now haven't scored a goal in 270 minutes this season, were again punished for their inability to convert their chances.

However, they looked to have done enough to earn a point until Ninkovic slotted home Matt Simon's header with barely a minute of added time remaining.

The home team who dominated early, with Roy Krishna featuring twice in the first five minutes through quickfire work in tandem with Kosta Barbarouses, but Sydney's back four, led by the hard-working Matt Jurman held strong.

Wellington had the ball in the back of the net after 13 minutes, Michael McGlinchey slotting Barbarouses's low cross home only to be ruled offside.

Sydney looked at their most dangerous on the counterattack, Carney breaking through in the 33rd minute and unleashing a powerful left-footed drive which forced a superb reflex save from Wellington keeper Glen Moss.

The Phoenix continued to create a multitude of chances at the other end, but couldn't deliver the crucial final strike.

Left-back Tom Doyle's 36th minute header rattled the woodwork then Krishna timed his run perfectly to again find the back of the net off a Barbarouses through ball, only to be denied by the assistant referee's offside flag. The second half delivered more of the same, Wellington continuing to create chances and Sydney continuing to accumulate yellow cards -- four in total to Wellington's none.

But while the Phoenix continued to manufacture plenty of solid opportunities, they still couldn't convert and Sydney launched a stinging series of attacks.

Carney looked to have found the winner in the 78th minute, finding space down the left then cutting inside young right-back Jacob Tratt only to curl his shot wide of the far post.

The offside flag again halted Barbarouses in the 84th minute when he was through one-on-one with Vukovic, but it was Sydney's tenacity which saw them home eight minutes later.