Melbourne City 2 Wellington Phoenix 1: Fornaroli penalty puts hosts second

Bruno Fornaroli scored a match-winning penalty as Melbourne City’s 2-1 home win over Wellington Phoenix moved them up to second in the A-League.

The prolific striker took his tally for the season to seven goals in eight league games with a spot-kick 19 minutes from time after he had been brought down in the box by Marco Rossi.

Melbourne had earlier taken the lead through Nick Fitzgerald’s deflected shot, before Wellington got back into the match when Roy Krishna scored from the rebound after his own penalty – awarded when Ivan Franjic fouled Kosta Barbarouses – was saved by Dean Bouzanis.

The battling win takes the hosts above rivals Melbourne Victory and to within four points of leaders Sydney FC, who they meet in the FFA Cup final on Wednesday.

Wellington remain second-bottom after suffering a fifth defeat in seven matches.