The Sky Blues were two goals to the good courtesy of Bobo (29') and Zullo (34') before Andrija Kaluderovic clawed one back on the stroke of half time(44').

Bobo restored his side's buffer with his second of the night (49') , but Phoenix continued to take it to the reigning Champions on their own turf.

And when Dario Vidosic headed home on the hour - his second in two matches - it was all set for a tense fiinish at Allianz Stadium.

Zullo last scored in the A-League for Brisbane Roar in 2008 and was happy to take the good humoured ribbing post-match.

"I don’t get on the score sheet too often," he told Fox Sports.  "That’s alright, I’m a left back now so I’ve got an excuse.

"We want to get off to a good start and we’ve got off to a great start so far this season. We’ve made another FFA Cup final and two wins on the trot in the league."

Sydney were on a short turnaround after playing South Melbourne in the Cup midweek, but Zullo was positive about the performance.

"I think we played some unbelievable football tonight and we were perhaps unlucky not to get more and make it a bit more comfortable towards the end," he said.

"I don’t think we made any mistakes so to speak, it’s just they took their chances and executed well."

Obviously tonight we’ll reflect on the performance but leave the analysis to later in the week. That’s one of the big things I’ve noticed since coming to the club, the depth of analysis. The staff here give us everything we need to succeed.

Zullo said the attention now turned to next week's Sydney derby against Wanderers, when they will likely be without influential import Adrian Mierzejewski who limped off with a hamstring injury.

"I guess (Wanderers) were in a bit of a new situation with the coach leaving but we’re not too worried about them we’re just worried about ourselves," Zullo added.

"I know it’s a cliché but we’re the Champions, we’re going out to win again and be as dominant as we were last year."