Melbourne Victory, Wellington Phoenix extend unbeaten runs after draw

Ola Toivonen salvaged a late equaliser for Melbourne Victory, preserving the A-League champions' unbeaten streak after a 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix.

Victory, again without star Keisuke Honda, looked set for a first loss in eight matches when David Williams struck a second-half opener at AAMI Park. Instead, Kevin Muscat's side forced a way through Wellington's impressive rearguard with Toivonen diverting Terry Antonis' cross-shot for a share of the spoils.

In addition to Honda's absence, Nick Ansell was injured just 12 minutes into Friday night's match, clutching at his hamstring after attempting to block Roy Krishna's shot.

Ansell could join Honda, Raul Baena and Georg Niedermeier on a growing Victory injury list. His injury sent Leigh Broxham to defence and allowed Josh Hope to see his longest spell of A-League football in his young career. But it could also give Muscat headaches ahead of a busy January.

At least Victory showed the resilience to defy the in-form Nix, who arrived in Melbourne on a three-match winning run of their own.

Victory bossed possession but Wellington had the best opportunities to break through; none better than Sarpreet Singh's early one-on-one effort which was smothered by Lawrence Thomas.

Victory captain Carl Valeri exerted just the right amount of pressure on the star teenager as he bore down on goal. Mandi struck a free kick just wide of the Victory goal frame, while at the other end James Troisi was just centimetres from tapping in Kosta Barbarouses' sharp centre.

The longer the score stayed at 0-0, the more likely it seemed Wellington would spring a surprise. Roy Krishna used his pace to get around Thomas Deng and strike wide on the hour mark. Then up stepped Williams, who humiliated Storm Roux by selling him a dummy and curling home at the back post.

The stunning strike was Williams' second goal in as many games, ending his 22-match A-League goalscoring drought in style.

Muscat threw on Kenny Athiu for Troisi, also struggling after a knee knock, to challenge Wellington in the air. Instead, it was his other beanpole striker that earned Victory a point, the Swede scoring for the fourth consecutive match.