Burns double downs Sydney

Nathan Burns staked a claim for a place in Australia’s Asian Cup squad by inspiring Wellington’s 2-0 win over Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium.

Burns struck twice in the space of eight second-half minutes as the Phoenix continued their impressive form of late by securing a third A-League.win in their last four matches at the expense of the Sky Blues in the harbour city on Sunday.

Sydney were dealt a blow before kick-off with skipper Alex Brosque forced to withdraw with a groin problem and they have now won just one of their last seven matches in the A-League.

The result sees Wellington leapfrog Sydney into fourth spot in the table heading into Christmas.