While chances were a plenty it was by no means an easy task for Sydney FC. Opportunities came and went as the Sky Blues dominated. 

Surprisingly, the opening goal came by the way of a scrappy deflection from Brandon O'Neill's strike after some pinball in the box. 

Kosta Barbarouses should have put Sydney in front but his guilt edged chance was thwarted by the hand of Stefan Marinovic, with fans arguing the square ball to Le Fondre was the best option. 

Down the other end, Ulises Davila had a golden opportunity to square the ledger, but Andrew Redymayne's chest and the post on David Ball's follow-up kept Sydney in front. 

Wellington finally made amends with Davila equalising with a smart finish into the bottom right corner with twenty minutes remaining. 

Their celebrations were short lived as Sydney FC 'fan favourite' and Socceroos right-back Rhyan Grant popped up with the winner. A beautiful flick at the free-kick saw the ball loop over Marinovic and into the back of the net. 

Liberato Cacace's straight red for a horror tackle on Anthony Caceres all but sealed the win for Sydney FC. 

SYDNEY FC 

Andrew Redmayne - 7

He pulled out two spectacular saves in either half, firstly keeping Jaushua Sotirio's header out of the net and stopping Davila's 'clear as day' volley with his chest. Both, arguably, should have been goals. 

Rhyan Grant - 6.5

His engine never runs out. There is a good partnership developing between the right triangle of Grant, Luke Brattan and Alex Baumjohann. He showed terrific technique to loop Marinovic from O'Neill's free-kick to send Sydney in front. 

Ryan McGowan - 6.5

There were some shaky moments for McGowan when he was playing out but overall a decent performance after his match-winner last weekend. 

Alex Wilkinson - 7

Wilkinson was immense for Sydney stopping almost everything that came his way. It took him time to settle his defence as they started the second half, where Sydney almost conceded. 

Paolo Retre - 5.5

When he found the time and space to get it onto his right foot he created chances but his crossing was below par. Defensively he was neither here nor there as a makeshift left full-back with Sotirio finding space in behind him. 

Brandon O'Neill - 7

While some might debate the deflection of Barbarouses is enough to chalk the goal off his name, O'Neill will be credited with the work for Sydney's opening goal. His free-kick found the foot of Grant who sent Sydney in front. 

Luke Brattan - 6

Terrific composure on the ball being able to break through Wellington's press and launching attacks for Sydney. 

Alex Baumjohann - 6.5

Baumjohann had a great match and nearly set up Barbarouses for the second, although he can be criticised for freezing when the opportunity to shoot presents itself to him. 

Milos Ninkovic - 5.5

Ninkovic's passing seemed slow and his movement a little lethargic. Given it was't his best performance he still played a role in maintaining Sydney's lightning quick attack. 

Kosta Barbarouses - 6

A major deflection of his foot helped O'Neill's effort past Marinovic to open the scoring. He should have put Sydney two in front when he went in one-on-one but he scuppered a clear cut chance. 

Adam Le Fondre - 6

Le Fondre was extremely busy in the opening 15 minutes with everything coming his way. Unofrtauntely he couldn't come away with a goal, although he should have. 

SUBSTITUTES 

Anthony Caceres - 6

Replaced Alex Baumjohann as Sydney had to chase a winner. 

Luke Ivanovic - N/A

Joel King - N/A

WELLINGTON PHOENIX 

Stefan Marinovic - 6.5

A wild deflection kept Marinovic in the wrong position as he could do nothing about the opening goal, although he'd have some choice words for his defenders. 

Liberato Cacace - 3

Cacace was parked in the full-back spot with little room to move forward. When he did, we could see glimmers of a positive partnership with Callum McCowatt. He was sent off after a horrific tackle on Anthony Caceres in the second half. 

Luke Devere - 5

Despite Sydney's goal coming from a set piece, Devere did his best to cover Steven Taylor. He found his issues when Le Fondre occupied him as Sydney played around them.

Steven Taylor - 5

Taylor had a similar issue to Devere but with Barbarouses being a thorn in his side. There is much for the Wellington skipper to work on for his defence.

Louis Fenton - 4.5

Luckily for Fenton Sydney were bombarding Wellington's left flank with Liberato Cacace dealing with the onslaughts. His defensive performance was average, his attacking turnout, less so. 

Callum McCowatt - 6.5

He loves a dig from distance but none of them came off for him tonight. He created Wellington's first real chance, skinning Grant but Redmayne's reactions ensured Sydney stayed on top. 

Ville Matti Steinmann - 4

Not much to write home about except for a yellow card for a tackle on Ninkovic. 

Alex Rufer - 6

His clean tackling started a number of attacks for Wellington but whenever Rufer received the ball in midfield he usually had less time than he thought with it. 

Ulises Davila - 7

Davila looks dangerous when he space to turn and face the defence in central positions but he has only himself to blame when his point blank volley went straight into Andrew Redmayne. He made up for it later with a good finish into the bottom right corner to equalise.

David Ball - 6

Ball was feeding off scraps with Wellington incisions into the penalty area coming rarely throughout the match. Having said that, he did well to fashion chances for himself and only the post stopped him from scoring. 

Jaushua Sotirio - 6.5

Sotirio got only a few moments to use his pace against Sydney's tall defence but it was often straight into Wilkinson or McGowan. He improved in the second half, pulling the ball back for Davila's equaliser.

SUBSTITUTES 

Reno Piscopo - 6

Piscopo came on as all the drama with Cacace's red card was unfolding, and just after Sydney scored. A fierce shot nestled right into the bread basket of Andrew Redmayne. 

Ben Waine - N/A