Round 5 saw Gold Coast United confirmed its status as top dog of the Hyundai A-League,
Results – Round 5
Melbourne Victory 1 drew Newcastle Jets 1
Wellington Phoenix 1 drew Adelaide United 1
CENTRAL COAST MARINERS 2 beat Perth Glory 1
GOLD COAST UNITED 2 beat Sydney FC 1
North Queensland Fury 1 Brisbane Roar 1
Game Wraps
Gold Coast United confirmed its status as top dog of the Hyundai A-League after a 2-1 win over Sydney FC.
A brace from Kiwi sensation Shane Smeltz was enough to secure the win for United, which inflicted Sydney’s first loss of the season despite Steve Corica’s 75th-minute goal.
Smeltz first opened up the match in the shadows of half time, and his second – a brilliant solo effort – iced the game in the 56th minute for a Gold Coast side without talisman Jason Culina.
Sydney hit back with a late goal to Steve Corica and the home fans were given a scare when Bas Van Den Brink gave away a free kick in the dying moments, but John Aloisi’s strike wasn’t good enough to get around the gold wall of defenders.
The win moved Gold Coast to 12 points, two clear of Sydney which slips back to 10 points from five games.
Central Coast sits third on eight points after a terrible blunder by Perth goalkeeper Tando Velaphi saw the Mariners snatch a 2-1 victory over the Glory through Matt Simon’s 89th-minute winner on Friday night.
The first Hyundai A-League match at Canberra Stadium appeared to be petering out to a 1-1 result before a tame Mariners’ attack was transformed into a goal through Velaphi’s error.
Earlier, Alex Wilkinson had given the Mariners a 1-0 lead on 42 minutes before Mile Sterjovski equalised on 82 minutes. Simon then found himself in the right place at the right time as Velaphi looked on in despair after an inexplicable error let the home side in.
The other three matches ended in draws, with Melbourne continuing its spluttering start to the season, after Archie Thompson scored a goal in the 42nd minute before Labinot Haliti, playing his first match in his latest stint for the Jets, secured an equaliser in the 86th minute.
The Jets now move to eight points as well, while Melbourne sits in seventh with five points.
Ahead of them sits the Glory, as well as the Roar who managed a draw with North Queensland in Townsville.
Robbie Fowler gave the Fury a seventh-minute lead before Mitch Nichols deflected a Sergio Van Dijk shot in to score a late goal which earned the Roar a point.
The weekend’s other match saw Wellington take an early lead against Adelaide thanks to a 35th-minute goal to Paul Ifill. But the Reds equalised through Iain Fyfe just before half-time and took a share of the points and now sit level with Melbourne and the Phoenix but three points head of the Fury, who remain on the bottom of the table.
Weekend Goals Tally: 12
Attendances (total / average): 41,803/8360
Goal of the Week – Shane Smeltz
The opening goal for Smeltz came on the end of a brilliant curling free kick from Matt Osman who found his striker in perfect position. Smeltz’s finish was all class, heading the ball perfectly across the face of goal and into the far corner.
Goal of the Week – Shane Smeltz
The opening goal for Smeltz came on the end of a brilliant curling free kick from Matt Osman who found his striker in perfect position. Smeltz’s finish was all class, heading the ball perfectly across the face of goal and into the far corner.
Player of the Week – Shane Smeltz
Two superb goals from Smeltz secured Gold Coast a fantastic 2-1 win over Sydney FC and got the new franchise back to the top of the table. The All Whites striker now has eight goals in the first five games enhancing his reputation as the best marksman in competition.
One to Watch – Labinot Haliti
Haliti was only cleared to make his return for the Jets just 24 hours before the match against Melbourne, and then got the nod from coach Branko Culina that he would be in the starting squad about an hour before kick-off. But given his chance as a second-half substitute, Haliti rose late in the match at Etihad Stadium to secure a draw for the visitors with a powerful header.
Leading Goalscorers
8 – Shane Smeltz
3 – John Aloisi, Robbie Fowler, Sergio Van Dijk, Archie Thompson
2 -Chris Greenacre, Carlos Hernandez, Jason Hoffman, Branko Jelic, Lucas Pantelis, Paul Ifill
1 – Danny Allsopp, Mark Bridge, Jason Culina, Dyron Daal, Kofi Danning, Travis Dodd, Brendan Gan, Royston Griffiths, Michael Mcglinchey, Milson, Jason Naidovski, Nigel Boogaard, Jin-Hyung Song, Tahj Minniecon, Daniel Mcbreen, Leo Bertos, Danny Tiatto, Henrique, Steven Fitzsimmons, Ben Sigmund, Wayne Srhoj, Adriano Pellegrino, Victor Sikora, Matt Simon, Lloyd Owusu, Sean Rooney, Craig Moore, Labinot Haliti, Iain Fyfe, Alex Wilkinson, Matt Simon, Mile Sterjovski, Steve Corica, Mitch Nichols
