Kosta Barbarouses bags brace in Wellington Phoenix's draw with 10 ...

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Phoenix striker Kosta Barbarouses celebrates after opening the scoring against Adelaide.

At Coopers Stadium, Adelaide: Wellington Phoenix 2 (Kosta Barbarouses 15’, 46’) Adelaide United 2 (Hiroshi Ibusuki 26’, 55’) HT: 1-1

Kosta Barbarouses scored for the fourth game in a row but his double was not enough to secure all three points for Wellington Phoenix in their first match of 2024.

The A-League Men leaders were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with 10-man Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Thursday after Barbarouses’s efforts were matched by opposition striker Hiroshi Ibusuki.

Barbarouses struck first in each half to take his tally to six goals in four games, continuing his sensational form into the New Year.

But Adelaide fought back on both occasions through their Japanese giant Ibusuki on a night where both teams’ strikers shone.

Barbarouses opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a tap-in at the far post, not long after Bozhidar Kraev had a goal correctly disallowed for offside.

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Ben Old is kept on a tight leash by Adelaide midfielder Isaias.

The Phoenix veteran reacted fastest after left-back Lukas Kelly-Heald – back in the starting lineup – nodded the ball back across goal and away from the reach of Adelaide goalkeeper James Delianov.

Adelaide’s defence could only watch as Barbarouses sped in and slotted home, and their coach Carl Vaert reacted by replacing the guilty man Nick Ansell at halftime.

The towering Ibusuki punished some poor set-piece defending to score Adelaide’s equaliser in the 26th minute with a thumping header from a corner after evading Mohamed Al-Taay.

The Phoenix hit the front again in the first minute of the second half when Giuseppe Bovalina failed to deal with a cross from Tim Payne, allowing dangerman Barbarouses to strike for the second time.

The 33-year-old has now scored more goals this season than in any as a Phoenix player, bettering the five he bagged in 2016-17.

Once again, the Phoenix’s lead only lasted 10 minutes.

Ibusuki drew Adelaide level in the 55th minute after Bayern Munich-bound teenager Nestory Irankunda blitzed two Phoenix defenders and teed up his striker to score.

Momentum was with Adelaide after their second goal and they looked the most likely to push on and score a third after peppering the Phoenix goal.

The match swung back in the Phoenix’s favour when Adelaide defender Ben Warland was shown a straight red card for flattening Oskar van Hattum when he had an unmarked Barbarouses outside him with eight minutes remaining.

But they could not make the numerical advantage count.

Midfielder Nicholas Pennington went agonisingly close for the Phoenix but was denied a dramatic late winner when his header hit the post in stoppage time.

The post had also come to the Phoenix’s rescue before Warland was sent off, denying Ibusuki a first A-League hat-trick.

Although they will be disappointed to have let their lead slip on two occasions, the Phoenix have traditionally struggled at Coopers Stadium, with 17 of their 26 visits there ending in a defeat.

The draw has seen the Phoenix move one point clear at the top of the table but they will be overtaken if Melbourne Victory beat Perth Glory on Friday.

Every club in the A-League Men and A-League Women will descend on Sydney next weekend for the inaugural Unite Round. The Phoenix men’s fixture is against Distance Derby rivals Perth Glory at CommBank Stadium next Sunday. They edged Perth 2-1 when they met in Wellington in October thanks to a costly mistake from former Phoenix goalkeeper Oli Sail, who has not been sighted for the Glory since.