These are the key talking points from Round 8 in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
The Isuzu UTE A-League’s runaway Golden Boot leader further enhanced his case for a Socceroos call-up with another goalscoring display in the Big Blue.
A Central Coast Mariners star dazzled while his teammate scored a hat-trick in an enthralling Grand Final rematch that yielded six goals, while Western United snapped their drought.
Adelaide United’s slump continued as there was déjà vu between Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory.
With a lot to dissect, here are the key talking points from Round 8 of the Isuzu UTE A-League.
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Mariners boss’ high praise for Nisbet: ‘He can play in (England) no problem’
In terms of praise, it doesn’t get much higher than this after Mark Jackson lauded Central Coast Mariners midfielder Josh Nisbet.
Angel Torres stole the headlines with a hat-trick but Mariners teammate Nisbet starred in the thrilling 3-3 draw away to reigning premiers Melbourne City on Sunday.
After a poor first half from the Mariners, a tactical tweak from Jackson changed the game with the midfielder doing huge damage from a higher position thanks to a half-time substitute that also saw Harrison Steele replace Miguel Di Pizio and Marco Tulio shifted out to the right wing.
In a Grand Final rematch at AAMI Park, the 24-year-old showcased his quality from box to box as defending champions Central Coast almost claimed their first victory over City in Victoria since 2014 as the home side equalised in stoppage time.
MATCH REPORT: City & Mariners share the spoils as Torres scores three in thrilling six-goal Grand Final rematch
“I think Nizzy has (no ceiling), I wouldn’t want to put anything on it,” Jackson said in his post-match press conference.
“I want him to (aim) as high as he can. Having come from overseas and worked in the Premier League, in the Championship, League One and League Two, seeing all those leagues in England, he can play in that, no problem.
“He’s intelligent, he’s got good awareness, he’s got good technical ability, he’s probably been hindered by his height and people have put a restriction on him in the past but as you can see in his performances, it doesn’t affect him.
“He competes – he even competes in the air. He’s a great young player. We’re delighted to have him here, and he’s a big, big part of our team.”
He added: “He’s a really, really intelligent footballer. He knows the game. He’s a student of the game as well. He likes to analyse, he likes to look back at training and game, he likes to talk football.
“You can tell that on the pitch, because when you tell him something, he does it straight away.
“He can play in any position, Nizzy. I think he can play in any position bar goalkeeper.
“He can play more advanced; the only thing missing for him today was probably a goal. He had a couple of chances towards the end so it’d be nice for him to get that but his all-around performance, particularly in that second half, was really, really good.”
Masterful Penha shows why tactical switch was worth its weight in gold
Daniel Penha showed his value – and then some – to Western United on Friday night.
The Brazilian attacking midfielder put in a brilliant showing in their come-from-behind 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar, spearheading their late comeback at AAMI Park.
Penha brought the scores level from the spot, after previously having a goal disallowed and a number of chances just put wide, and against the woodwork.
MATCH REPORT: Captain’s late goal ends Western United’s losing streak in dramatic victory over Brisbane
In fact, he tallied eight shots for the game, with an expected goals (xG) of 1.85 and five of those happening inside the penalty area, according to Opta.
The key to this was a move centrally, playing in behind Noah Botic and swapping with Lachie Wales who took up his role on the right-hand side.
“We thought that Daniel (Penha) would arrive into the box well and he got his opportunities,” said Aloisi when asked about the tactical switch post-game.
“He scored a goal that was disallowed but he got into those areas really well and we thought that we could hurt them with that.”
Penha’s best football at the Jets came when he was playing in behind Beka Mikeltadze, where he led the league for assists (10) in the 2021-22 campaign.
Now back in Australia following a frustrating loan spell with Korean side Daegu FC, the Brazilian is seemingly edging closer to recapturing the form that saw him dazzle A-League crowds before his departure.
“We know his quality,” continued Aloisi. “We know he’s going to show that quality. We also have to be patient with Daniel.
“He was out for a whole year, so he’s going to have his ups and downs physically. We get that. But his quality is always there.”
Having now broken their run of six straight defeats Western will be hoping Penha can sparkle once more when they face Sydney FC on December 23.
Reds boss uses intriguing 2021 parallel to quell concerns about three-game losing slump
Adelaide United head coach Carl Veart says there won’t be a change in approach from his side moving forward despite suffering a third consecutive defeat for the first time in nearly three years.
The Reds lost 1-0 on the road to Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night, failing to find a breakthrough despite Josh Brillante’s red card reducing the Wanderers to 10 men in the second half.
MATCH REPORT: 10-man Wanderers return to the winner’s list after hanging on to tight victory over Adelaide
Following defeats to Macarthur FC and Brisbane, Adelaide have now lost four of five games and three on the bounce; the last time they suffered three consecutive defeats was in January-February of 2021.
That particular run of defeats occurred through Rounds 6-8 of the 2020-21 season – the exact same stretch of rounds their current losing run has occurred across in the 2023-24 campaign.
Veart will be hoping for history to repeat this time around; after those three losses in early 2021, he oversaw a six-game winning run. The Adelaide head coach has taken confidence from his side’s past experience bouncing back from a tough run of form to form an optimistic view on what’s to come from the Reds moving forward this season.
“We’ve done it many times in my period (as coach),” Veart said after the defeat at CommBank Stadium.
“Sometimes we go through those period of losses, then we go on big long runs of wins. That’s something that’s not new to the playing group.
“We don’t change the way we want to play; we want to be an attacking side and take games to the opposition. I think the players did that tonight, it was just unfortunate we didn’t get a goal.”
Stanton’s Jets ‘changing attitudes’
There was deja vu for both Newcastle Jets and Perth Glory after Saturday’s dramatic finale at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The Jets salvaged a 2-2 draw thanks to Trent Buhagiar’s 97th-minute equaliser in the Hunter region, having also netted a stoppage-time leveller to earn a 2-2 draw in Round 1.
Glory came from one goal down to lead 2-1 in the second half, but conceded in the final minute of stoppage time as the Jets forced the visiting side to settle for a point on the road.
MATCH REPORT: 97th-minute equaliser extends Glory’s 14-month away hoodoo as Jets snare dramatic point at the death
For the youthful Jets, it was another learning experience having allowed Perth an avenue back into the contest following half-time.
But head coach Rob Stanton is pleased with what he has seen this season as Newcastle defy the doubters, especially after their Round 7 triumph away to previously unbeaten Wellington Phoenix.
“The competition is really close. The first team to get a roll on will run away with it. I’m thinking Melbourne Victory are looking strong,” Stanton, who was unhappy with the treatment directed at Reno Piscopo after he was forced to hobble off the field, told reporters post-match.
“From there, anything can happen. Teams will go up and down a little bit. Teams who can a roll of wins under their belt will end up in the play-offs.
“We’re aiming to get on a roll at some stage. I just want us to be competitive every game. I want us to play how we set out to play every game. I want that to be done with effort, commitment and attitude and I want it to represent us every week.
“If we can do that, the wins and results will follow with that. I love the challenge we’re up for. I love how people initially look at us and don’t give us an opportunity and a chance. We’re changing attitudes.
“The players believe and that’s the most important thing. If we win enough games, our fans will believe more and you’ll see the crowds grow.”
Perth’s 14-month wait for a win on the road continued and Glory boss Alen Stajcics said: “It’s a bit gut-wrenching.
“We really should have defended just a ball lumped into the box. To concede one like that in the last 20-30 seconds of a game isn’t good enough.
“A total lack of discipline in the last minute of the game to protect your lead.”
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos opened the scoring for Newcastle as he continued his red-hot start to the season.
Stamatelopoulos has scored seven goals in as many matches – his best ever tally in senior football.
Only Melbourne Victory’s Bruno Fornaroli (12) has scored more goals than the 24-year-old forward.
Stanton was asked whether Stamatelopoulos should be in the mix for the Socceroos’ squad set to feature at next month’s AFC Asian Cup.
“I think he keeps doing that, at some stage, seven games there might be a conversation,” Stanton said.
“Maybe at this moment, Graham (Arnold) might have settled on numbers. But, at least there might be a conversation whether it’s in three months or six months down the track if he keeps doing what he’s doing.
“I just want him to focus on that. Everyone wants a goalscorer, everyone wants someone who’s good in the air as well. So he offers a lot. He is good at pressing, so he ticks a lot of boxes.
“At some stage he’ll come into the conversation. Maybe a few more games, be consistent over the course of the year. If he ends up with over a dozen or 15 goals, certainly a serious conversation. Age-wise he is in a great age bracket. If it doesn’t happen now, if he keeps going, it might happen in the future.”
The three weeks before off-season proving to be catalyst for Victory’s form
Melbourne Victory are flying high and yet to taste defeat this Isuzu UTE A-League this season.
Goals from Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach and Bruno Fornaroli guided Victory past Sydney FC 3-0 in Saturday night’s Big Blue at AAMI Park, where Tony Popovic’s side further flexed their Championship credentials.
MATCH REPORT: Fornaroli scores again as Victory turn on the class in ‘Big Blue’ triumph
Victory are unbeaten through eight rounds – a far cry from their forgettable 2022-23 campaign, which saw them finish second from bottom.
The groundwork, however, was laid even prior to Victory’s final match of last season – a 1-0 loss at home to Brisbane Roar in April.
“I believe everything plays a part,” head coach Tony Popovic told reporters post-game. “All the small details add up.
“We decided almost two-three weeks before the season finished we’d do a training block. We already had a plan and an idea of what we wanted to do this season. We thought we could start that process in those three weeks.
“It wasn’t punishment for the players in terms of the type of training. It was more about cementing a playing style we will play as soon as we get back on day one.
“The players worked hard. We tried to bring that camaraderie, a togetherness.
“We put aside what happened. We reflected and acknowledged and we wanted to move forward from that first session after the Brisbane game.
“We put in a three-week block. We gave the players a good break – six weeks, they went away and just relaxed and reflected. They came back with a great mindset.
“They’ve done that since day one. It doesn’t guarantee you success or wins but we feel every part of the process has got us to a point where we’re playing well and performing well. The bonus is when you get a result like tonight. Now you want more. Now we want it again in the derby, which is another special game.
“I hope to see us build from this point in the next eight games that we’re playing better in eight games than what we are now. That’s always the goal.”
Popovic was also full of praise for Victory star Daniel Arzani, who scored his first goal for the club since arriving in the off-season.
It was the fringe Socceroo’s first goal since October last year, when he was playing for Macarthur FC.
“It’s good to see him smiling again,” Popovic said of the 24-year-old.
“He’s understanding (if) he wants to get back to the levels that he was playing at some years back, he needs to be consistent, he needs to score goals, he needs to understand the team dynamic and he needs to work for the team.
“He’s working hard – he’s still (got) a long way to go. We need him to finish at that level for a whole game, but he’s definitely making progress.”
Kosta leads the way in Campbelltown
Wellington Phoenix returned to the winner’s list and the Isuzu UTE A-League summit thanks to a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Macarthur FC.
Kosta Barbarouses was the star of the show with a quick-fire brace as the league-leading Phoenix proved too strong for the Bulls in Campbelltown on Monday night.
After Bozhidar Kraev opened the scoring in the first half with the club’s 600th Isuzu UTE A-League goal, Barbarouses scored two goals in the space of three second-half minutes.
MATCH REPORT: No Zawada, no worries as Phoenix make swift return to form & summit
The 33-year-old had gone 17 games without a goal in the Isuzu UTE A-League before breaking that drought in style against Macarthur.
Barbarouses already held the record for scoring in the most A-League Men seasons of any player in competition history (13) before Monday night, when he broke his duck for the 2023-24 campaign.
“I don’t want to really speak about last season because it was a different dynamic,” Wellington head coach Giancarlo Italiano said.
“He probably found it harder to find his feet because it was his first year back at the club, new manager. So now it’s his second season, a bit more settled.
“I just work to his strengths. I don’t venture too far away or ask anything different of him.
“Tonight tactically we played with three narrow nines and gave them the freedom to come off the line. We felt like their sixes would step through and open up the space.
“He did it quite well. He’s done it before.”
