A 90th-minute penalty from Mile Jedinak fired the Central Coast Mariners to an amazing 2-1 win over Sydney FC in a pulsating Hyundai A-League clash on Saturday night.
Jedinak made no mistake from the spot after Iain Fyfe fouled man-of-the-match Dylan Macallister.
Macallister was a constant threat to the Sydney defence and Fyfe had no answer to his neat control and sharp turn.
Referee Peter Green had no hesitation pointing to the spot and Jedinak struck powerfully into the top corner, easily beating Sydney goalkeeper Clint Bolton.
The late goal capped what was an amazing second half at Bluetongue Stadium which included several talking points.
Sydney captain Steve Corica, who was surprisingly benched by coach John Kosmina, should have headed home a Rob Middleby cross with only seconds to play but did not hit the target.
A second-half penalty from John Aloisi seemed certain to see Sydney salvage a point.
Aloisi scored against his former club in the 64th minute to cancel out Macallister’s first-half strike from the Mariners.
Sydney was correctly given a penalty by Green when Mariners goalkeeper Danny Vukovic fouled Aloisi.
Aloisi brushed himself off to take the spot kick and despite his penalty being well saved by Vukovic, Green ruled it had to be taken again after Central Coast defender Pedj Bojic moved into the box before Aloisi took aim.
Aloisi found the back of the net when he sent Vukovic the wrong way with his second attempt.
There was more drama shortly after when Sydney appeared to have earned another penalty in the 69th minute after Shannon Cole was fouled in the box by Dean Heffernan prompting Green to point to the spot for the second time in five minutes.
But the assistant referee ruled Cole was off side.
Matches between these teams have a history of going to the wire and this was no different with both Central Coast and Sydney desperate for a winner.
Macallister had chances to add to his tally, while Sydney also saw plenty of the ball in a dramatic final 20 minutes before conceding the decisive stoppage-time goal.
The result sees the Mariners leapfrog Sydney and Queensland into third place.
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Macallister 11′, Jedinak 90’p)
Sydney FC 1 (Aloisi 64’p)
