aleagues.com.au brings you all the biggest talking points from Round 3 of the Isuzu UTE A-League 2025-26 season.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN A-LEAGUES CLUB MEMBER TODAY!
HE SAID WHAT? EVERY word from your Isuzu UTE A-League coach after Round 3
Mariners star’s ‘weird’ description of rivals: ‘I haven’t really seen it too often’
Wellington Phoenix’s high line. It has been the topic of discussion to start the 2025-26 season and it continued in Round 3.
The Phoenix were held to a 1-1 draw by Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Sunday, with Wellington remaining undefeated through three rounds.
MATCH REPORT: Goalkeeper’s incredible display helps Mariners claim a point against Wellington
Wellington’s high line was on display at polytech Stadium, where Sabit Ngor cancelled out Ifeanyi Eze’s fourth-minute opener.
Central Coast’s Harry Steele had an interesting take on the Phoenix’s tactics.
“They play a pretty weird style. It’s obviously working for them,” Steele told Paramount+.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Three-goal Sky Blue leads the way
“We worked on it this week but we were half a step off, half a second off everything.
“We went in at half-time and fixed it. We needed to be on the ball and winning duels otherwise we’re gonna get killed in the second half.
“We come out and scored the goal, and probably could’ve had a few more.”
On Wellington’s high line, Steele added: “I haven’t really seen it too often where they play that high and take the risk of the offside trap.
“It was effective for them. They caught us out a few times with it. Just unfortunate we didn’t catch them out more.”
Coach’s praise for ‘awesome’ goalscorer after ‘massive learning curve
Anthony Pantazopoulos is a rising star of the Isuzu UTE A-League and the Western Sydney Wanderers defender’s performance against Macarthur Bulls impressed his head coach in more ways than one.
Pantazopoulos equalised for the Wanderers in Saturday night’s 1-1 draw away to the Bulls in Campbelltown.
MATCH REPORT: Wanderers defender’s incredible streak rolls on as Bulls drop points in late derby drama
The talented 22-year-old, who can play centre-back and full-back, has now scored three goals against Macarthur in his short A-Leagues career.
“We had a running joke. He scored three goals against Macarthur. He probably wants to play the Bulls every week,” Western Sydney head coach Alen Stajcic told reporters post-game.
Western Sydney are still searching for their first win of the season after collecting two points from three matches.
However, Stajcic was glowing in his assessment of Pantazopoulos’ performance after a slow start against the Bulls in Round 3.
“It was a massive learning curve for him as an individual. He probably didn’t start very well. I thought he was pretty average the first half an hour,” said Stajcic.
“For him to change the level of his game throughout the game, and to improve so much to go from an average performance to the most important player on the field, regardless of the goal.
“I thought he was awesome in that last half an hour. The amount of crosses that came in, his intent to go forward, the threat he posed to the opposition, the tackles he put on, the set-pieces he put on. I thought he was instrumental in the point and probably instrumental in us getting three points had we got three points.
“I’m extremely proud of him tonight. To get through a tough period in the game and come out the other end playing like that, it was massively important for him and the team.”
Auckland star’s ultimate act of bravery: ‘I don’t know how he did it‘
Auckland FC players and coaches threw their arms around Black Knights winger Lachie Brook after the passing of his grandfather in the hours before Saturday’s game against Adelaide United.
MATCH REPORT: Inevitable Auckland! Signature Black Knights late show soured by major injury blow
Brook played from the start in the 2-1 win over the Reds as Auckland wore black armbands in memory of the winger’s grandfather; post-game, Brook was consoled by coaches and teammates as his black Knights peers spoke to the strength of his character to play on.
“Unfortunately, Lachie’s grandfather passed away last night,” Auckland head coach Steve Corica told Sky Sports post-game. “For him to play the way he did today was unbelievable. I spoke to the boys, we’ve got black armbands on as well for him.
“We’re a family here at Auckland and when he hurts, we all hurt. That was the message to the players: make sure you put in a good performance and get three points for Lachie and his family. My condolences to all of them.”
Black Knights midfielder Jake Brimmer joined Corica in reserving special praise for his teammate after the 2-1 win.
“Look at Lachie Brook’s performance, it’s a credit to that kid,” Brimmer told Sky Sports.
“I don’t understand how he did it and the performance he put on tonight is something special.”
World Cup winner has lift-off after ‘best performance’
Juan Mata, take a bow. The FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League winner opened his account for Melbourne Victory in their 2-0 win over Perth Glory.
In the starting XI for the first time since swapping Western Sydney Wanderers for rivals Victory in the off-season, Mata struck nine minutes into the second half following Keegan Jelacic’s opener.
MATCH REPORT: Juan Mata’s first Victory goal sets up blockbuster Melbourne Derby: ‘Best performance by far’
Victory head coach Arthur Diles also hailed the former Manchester United, Chelsea and Spain superstar as the four-time champions celebrated their first win of 2025-26 against a Glory time playing for the first time since David Zdrilic’s departure.
“Like I’ve been saying previously, it’s probably ahead of schedule to where I would have anticipated he’d be, after joining us so late,” Diles told reporters.
“To get almost 70 minutes out of him today is a testament to him, how professional he is, how fit he is, and how conditioned he is, and he did a lot of work on himself before joining the group.
“That allowed us to maybe fast-track him into the starting line-up, like we did tonight, and he scores a great goal.”
Did Sydney just expose Newcastle’s blind spot? ‘The plan worked‘
Sydney FC forward Al Hassan Toure scored the first hat-trick of his professional career on Saturday afternoon. In the process, he uncovered a chink in Newcastle Jets’ armour that other teams will take note of moving forward.
MATCH REPORT: Hat-trick hero fires Sydney FC to thumping win as Jets dismantled in shock result
The Jets crushed Melbourne Victory 5-2 in Round 2 and came into Saturday’s meeting with Sydney FC as favourites but were picked apart by Ufuk Talay’s Sky Blues. Toure scored three goals as Sydney came from one goal down to win 4-1 at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Two of Toure’s three goals came within six second-half minutes; both goals were nearly identical, with Toure exploiting space down the left side of Sydney’s attack – space vacated by Newcastle right-back Thomas Aquilina.
‘DOESN’T MATTER… BELIEVE!’: Hat-trick hero’s mentality message all young footballers should hear
It was a tactic Sydney concocted pre-game, to target the space in behind Newcastle’s attack-minded full-backs – and it was a tactic that paid off for Toure and the Sky Blues.
“We talked about it in training: the fullbacks do get high and that was a good opportunity for me to go 1v1 against their centre-backs,” Toure said post-game.
“As a centre-back you never want to play against a fast winger, so I think we were able to take advantage of that and two of my goals came from that. The plan worked.”
The season debut that Roar coach wanted to happen: ‘He has swagger’
For the opening two rounds, Brisbane Roar head coach Michael Valkanis wanted to play young gun Quinn MacNicol but he finally got his chance in Round 3.
The 17-year-old academy graduate came off the bench in Friday night’s 0-0 draw with defending champions Melbourne City at Suncorp Stadium.
MATCH REPORT: This worrying image highlights ‘huge story’ for defending champions
It was MacNicol’s first appearance of the season, having previously become the youngest ever player for Brisbane in the 2023 Australia Cup Round of 32 before he made more history in the following round with a goal against Sydney United.
INJURY NEWS: This worrying image highlights ‘huge story’ for defending champions
TEEN SENSATION: ‘One of Australia’s biggest young talents’ makes history
He has played six Isuzu UTE A-League matches in total, and nine across all competitions since bursting onto the scene over two years ago.
“I’ve been wanting to put Quinn on in Round 1. We went down to 10 men then Wellington we were forced to make other changes and it was difficult to bring him on,” Valkanis said in a post-game press conference.
“I was happy he came on today. He has a little bit of swagger and smoothness in the way he plays.
“I’ve been very happy with his pre-season and the way he’s applied himself. His work ethic when I first came was a bit different, a little bit cheeky. But now he understands you have to defend as well and work hard off the ball.
“You saw him do that when he came on. He won it a few times and went forward.
“I like players like that. His technical ability is really good. He is a Brissy boy. I like that he plays with a bit of cheek.
“Today was a chance to bring him on. We’ve been looking for it and it’s credit to him because he’s worked really hard and deserves it.”
