Marin Jakolis scored his first Isuzu UTE A-League hat-trick to help Macarthur Bulls come from one goal down to beat Brisbane Roar 5-1 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Macarthur trailed in the first half thanks to Asumah Abubakar’s stunning long-range opener but Jakolis equalised before the break.
Saîf-Edinne Khaoui supplied the assist for Jakolis’ first goal of the night and repeated the feat 10 minutes after the restart as Macarthur took the lead in Brisbane.
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Jake Hollman gave the Bulls breathing room in the 68th minute with a headed finish off Luke Brattan’s sublime free-kick delivery and just minutes later, Jakolis added his third goal of the night to the scoreboard – and ninth goal of the season.
Deep into second-half stoppage time, Harrison Sawyer scored his third goal in two games to put the exclamation mark on a 5-1 win for the Bulls.
Jakolis began the 2024-25 campaign with four goals in his first four games but then went 11 games without finding the back of the net. The Bulls winger came into Friday night’s clash with Brisbane having scored two goals in his last six games but surged back into scoring form with his first A-Leagues hat-trick.
He now sits just two goals behind Western United striker Noah Botic who leads the Golden Boot race on 11 goals.
Having secured three points in Brisbane, Macarthur have moved to within just one point of sixth-placed Adelaide United, having played two more games than the Reds.
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Saîf-Edinne Khaoui threatened to open the scoring after a cagey opening 20 minutes with a shot from range that called Matt Acton into a lunging dive – but the Roar keeper wasn’t troubled by the shot that bent wide of the top-left corner.
Khaoui’s ambitious effort clicked Macarthur into gear and the visitors threatened once more through Marin Jakolis down the left wing; the Bulls winger looked to find Chris Ikonomidis who was all alone in the box but his pass across goal had too much pace as a chance at a potential one-on-one went begging.
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Macarthur’s inability to finish a series of opportunities opened the door for Brisbane to make them pay – and Asumah Abubakar rose to the challenge with his second Roar goal struck from well outside the box.
The 27-year-old joined Brisbane from Grasshopper Club Zurich in February and, having opened his Isuzu UTE A-League account against Perth Glory in March, doubled his tally in some style to put the Roar ahead against the Bulls.
Seven minutes later, Abubakar went within centimetres of a second goal on the night when his scuffed shot from a tight angle hit the post, and ricocheted across the goal line in a lucky escape for Macarthur.
But on the cusp of half-time, Macarthur struck back to head into the break on level terms.
Ivan Vujica started the clinical attacking move, feeding the ball to Jakolis who played a one-two with Khaoui before firing a first-time strike into the bottom-right corner.
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Jakolis was at the double just 10 minutes after the restart as Macarthur came from one goal down to lead Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
Khaoui notched his second assist of the night with an incisive, first-time pass in behind Brisbane’s defence and from there, Jakolis did the rest, taking the ball around Acton to finish into an empty net.
Macarthur were soon out of sight in Brisbane thanks to Jake Hollman’s close-range header that doubled the away side’s advantage.
Picked out by a perfectly-placed Luke Brattan free-kick, Hollman converted with a clinical header at the near post to make it 3-1.
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Having turned a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 lead, Macarthur had all the momentum at Suncorp Stadium and less than 20 minutes into the second half, the visitors made it 4-1 – and it was Jakolis again benefiting from silver service to secure his hat-trick.
Kealey Adamson’s early cross off the right flank found Jakolis strolling in at the back post for an unchallenged, first-time volley as the Bulls winger took his goal tally to nine for the campaign – just two behind Golden Boot leader Noah Botic.
Isuzu UTE A-League Golden Boot Leaderboard
1st: Noah Botic, Western United: 11 goals
=2nd: Archie Goodwin, Adelaide United: 10 goals
=2nd: Nicolas Milanovic, Western Sydney Wanderers: 10 goals
=4th: Adrian Segecic, Sydney FC: 9 goals
=4th: Hiroshi Ibusuki, Western United: 9 goals
=4th: Joe Lolley, Sydney FC: 9 goals
=4th: Marin Jakolic, Macarthur Bulls: 9 goals
With seconds left to play at Suncorp Stadium, Harrison Sawyer scored a resounding header to confirm a 5-1 win for the Bulls.
The towering Macarthur striker wheeled out the robot celebration, having bagged his third goal in two games.
