Victory beat Phoenix, reach FFA Cup final

Melbourne Victory have beaten A-League opponents Wellington Phoenix 4-1 to book a spot in the FFA Cup final against Central Coast.

Tony Popovic says Melbourne Victory's 4-1 FFA Cup semi-final win over the Wellington Phoenix will mean nothing if they don't lift the trophy.

Popovic's side booked a spot in their first FFA Cup final since 2015 thanks to a double from Nick D'Agostino and goals from Josh Brillante and Ben Folami in the second half at Geelong's GMHBA Stadium.

Victory, who also sit top of the A-League Men, will face the Central Coast Mariners at Melbourne's AAMI Park next Saturday in the final and it signifies a marked upturn for the club's fortunes after last year's A-League wooden spoon.

"Tonight is a great night for everyone involved in the club," Popovic said.

"For the chairman and the board, they have invested so much into this club for a long period of time (and) after the last few years this is a special moment.

"We're in a final and we don't want to just participate, we want to win it.

"Next week will be a nice week of build-up and it's fantastic for our fans who came down to Geelong and they will go happy knowing they've got a special game to look forward to at AAMI Park."

Victory didn't have it all their own way and struggled to break down Wellington's defensive resolve for the best part of an hour.

Englishman Gary Hooper had given the New Zealand outfit the lead just before half-time but Brillante's 64th-minute goal drew Victory level and sparked them into life.

Popovic threw on Robbie Kruse, D'Agostino and Chris Ikonomidis straight afterwards and Wellington collapsed in a heap.

D'Agostino put Victory ahead with 10 minutes left before Folami weaved his way through the entire Wellington defence to make it three.

D'Agostino notched his second in added time to wrap up the win.

"The difference between us and them is the depth in the squad," said Wellington coach Ufuk Talay, who was without first-team regulars Tim Payne, Clayton Lewis and Oli Sail.

"I'm proud of the boys and what they achieved with the Cup run.

"I thought we did well in the first half and got the goal that we were looking for.

"But relying on 11 players to finish 90 minutes is a big ask and not having that squad depth hurts."