A-League Team of the Week: Nix keeper recognised for heroics in loss

Wellington's Josh Oluwayemi recorded one of the best Flashscore ratings of the season in Round 7.
Wellington's Josh Oluwayemi recorded one of the best Flashscore ratings of the season in Round 7.JAMES WORSFOLD / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

Wellington's Nigerian goalkeeper has been lauded for saving ten out of 13 shots saved whilst some hapless defending left him out to sea in their 3-1 NZ derby defeat.

Here are the eleven top performers (by position) from Round 7 of the A-League, according to Flashscore's in-house player rating system.

Catch up on all A-League results and statistics on Flashscore.com.au here.

The best XI from last weekend's A-League round.
The best XI from last weekend's A-League round.Flashscore.com.au

GK: Josh Oluwayemi - Wellington Phoenix (9.4*)

He ultimately let in three goals that he couldn't have done much about, with his defenders doing little to assist him and wilting under the strain of Manjrekar James' red card, and that's a sad thing because the 3-1 loss for the Wellington Phoenix will overshadow what was a stellar goalkeeping performance from Oluwayemi.

The 24-year-old made ten saves, including two from the penalty spot, and Auckland's expected goals count of 4.95 illustrates just how ugly the scoreline could have been without his efforts. 

LB: Harry Politidis - Macarthur FC (8.3)

Melbourne City's trash has turned out to be Macarthur's treasure with Harry Politidis still searching for regular consistency at age 23, but nonetheless putting in some excellent shifts against the Victory, Phoenix (7.9) and Wanderers (7.5) since the start of November. 

CB: Matt Jurman - Macarthur FC (7.7)

Jurman was voted Macarthur's Player of the Match by the supporters in their 0-0 draw with Melbourne Victory for a performance that saw him win four out of five ground duels and make five clearances. 

CB: German Ferreyra - Melbourne City (7.8) 

The Argentinian mainstay has completed every minute of 26 of Melbourne City's 28 games since the start of February and has rated 7.3 out of 10 or better in seven of his last eight games across all competitions - an excellent consistency for our ratings system.

RB: Harrison Shillington - Melbourne City (7.8)

Shillington was a narrow winner of Flashscore's Player of the Match for the game between Newcastle and Melbourne City, completing an outstanding 28 out of 32 passes whilst winning seven out of ten duels engaged. 

LM: Jaiden Kucharski - Perth Glory (8.1)

Kucharski earned his highest rating of the season for assisting the only goal in Perth's win over the Wanderers in addition to a game-high four shots of his own. 

CM: Kai Trewin - Melbourne City (7.8)

Trewin has excelled for City since being moved from a centre back to a central midfield role, rating 7.8 and 7.9 in two of his last three appearances. 

He completed 43 passes against the Jets at the weekend, including a game-best six 'accurate long passes'.

CM: Tiago Quintal - Sydney FC (8.1)

The 19-year-old delighted The Cove with his first A-League start, assisting Sydney FC's winner on an oppressively hot evening in Gosford. 

RM: Sebastian Despotovski - Perth Glory (8.2)

How good is it to see a Despotovski running amok in the national league again?!

Bobby is one of the Perth Glory greats (if not their GOAT), scoring 113 goals in more than 240 appearances in the 1990s and 2000s, and now his 19-year-old son Seb is in the record books after registering his maiden A-League goal. 

ST: Kavian Rahmani - Melbourne City (7.7)

Rahmani broke the deadlock with the only goal of Melbourne City's win in Newcastle, also completing ten of 12 passes as part of his 7.7 rating. 

ST: Sam Cosgrove - Auckland FC (7.8)

Cosgrove, who scored a brace against the Phoenix just a month ago, was denied by Oluwayemi from the penalty spot but put in a busy shift, registering eight touches in the opposition box, two big chances and an assist - and he was attracting a lot of attention from defenders having been fouled six times. It'll be his turn again soon. 

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