Two goals from striker Shane Smeltz against an under-manned Perth Glory helped Wellington Phoenix to a 3-0 win in the battle of the A-League's cellar-dwellers.

The West Australians had a player sent off in each half at Westpac Stadium.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley was red-carded in the 27th minute for chopping down Vaughan Coveny in the box and referee Srebre Delovski also sent off Jamie Harnwell in the 74th minute.

Smeltz sent goalkeeper Tandor Velaphi the wrong way from the spot-kick for the opening goal in the 29th minute and the second came four minutes later when Ahmad Elrick worked his way upfield, slipped a pass to Smeltz on the right and his pass across the face of the goal was met by a sliding Felipe.

It was Phoenix's fourth consecutive match against under-manned opponents and, while they drew the first two - against Sydney and Melbourne - they were beaten 3-1 by Adelaide United last week.

Perth had a few chances in the first half, with Dino Djulbic and David Micevski coming the closest in the 23rd and 45th minutes respectively.

Smeltz and Mitchell Prentice were yellow carded after a heated clash and Smeltz was perhaps lucky not to be red-carded for tripping Prentice later.

Perth threatened to close the gap immediately after halftime following a few substitutions by coach David Mitchell.

Phoenix goalkeeper Glen Moss was fully stretched to save a left-footer from Nikita Rukavytsya from the edge of the box and replacement striker Jerry Karpeh kept the Phoenix defenders extremely busy.

An interference in the box denied Phoenix a third goal in the 67th minute when Elrick lobbed in from a free kick and Vince Lia redirected it into the net with a header.

But that third goal came four minutes later from a beautiful header from Smeltz when Lia lifted the ball towards goal.

Down 0-3, frustration crept into Perth's game and Delovski sent off Harnwell also for cutting down Coveny.

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