Jed Drew continued his red-hot Isuzu UTE A-League season as Macarthur Bulls moved up to fourth in the standings by defeating Newcastle Jets 3-1.
Drew staked his Subway Socceroos claim in front of head coach Tony Popovic with his sixth goal of the season for Macarthur, who came from behind to down the Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday.
With Popovic in the stands, Jets striker Ben Gibson and Bulls captain Valere Germain traded first-half goals before in-form Drew scored the winner in the 59th minute – his fifth goal in four games.
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Macarthur’s Bernardo Oliveira capped the scoring in stoppage time for his first goal of the season.
Macarthur are fourth in the standings through 13 rounds, ahead of Western United on goal difference, while Newcastle are 11th – 10 points outside of the top six and still eyeing their first home win of the campaign.
After an early chance for Drew, it was the Jets who drew first blood in the Hunter region.
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A swift counter-attack – finished by Gibson – put Newcastle ahead in the 18th minute. Clayton Taylor surged forward on the counter and his stunning assist found Gibson, who finished underneath the onrushing Filip Kurto.
However, the Jets’ lead was short-lived after Germain restored parity for Macarthur. It was too easy for the visitors as the Bulls captain side-footed into the net after Ivan Vujica’s run into the box.
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Newcastle had a chance prior to half-time and they went close again seven minutes into the second half when Taylor was denied by Kurto.
It was Macarthur who hit the front in the 59th minute, however. Bernardo’s brilliant run into the penalty area ended with Drew pouncing on the rebound to score past Ryan Scott.
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Some fantastic work from Drew saw him get in behind Newcastle’s defence before cutting the ball back and Daniel De Silva forced a fine save from Scott with 18 minutes remaining.
Newcastle substitute Lachie Rose almost equalised 10 minutes from the end when he directed a header onto the post.
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Macarthur ended Newcastle’s hopes in the first minute of stoppage time thanks to Bernardo, who finished powerfully past Scott – his first goal since March last year after an injury lay-off.
