We look at each side’s top performer from Round 4 of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Season as familiar faces continue to shine.
The Opta data has highlighted the players that had a major say on a weekend, including Keisuke Honda’s ever-growing influence and Christopher Ikonomidis’ response to Graham Arnold’s message.
HEROIC MOMENTS: Hometown hero kick-starts Newcastle’s season
PAPER TALK: Seagull saved as Perth prove unstoppable on and off the pitch
THE WHISTLE: Round 4 refereeing and VAR incidents explained
Read on to discover your club’s best along with the stats-based Team of the Week!
Adelaide United
Isaias
The Reds may have been brought back down to earth with a 2-0 defeat to Perth Glory, but their experienced captain did his best to maintain control of the game.
Isaias made 78 pass attempts at an accuracy of 88 per cent, as well as recovering possession no less than seven times.
Brisbane Roar
Alex Lopez
The Spanish midfielder led Brisbane’s fight back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Western Sydney Wanderers in every sense.
Lopez kick-started the comeback with a sublime strike from range that won Goal of the Round – his first Hyundai A-League goal – as well as creating two scoring chances, while making a team-high 53 successful passes.
First #ALeague goal, first Goal of the Round award 🏆
Congratulations to @alexlopezs8 on a super strike 💥 pic.twitter.com/Cd6XVz0cwD
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 12, 2018
Central Coast Mariners
Tommy Oar
It was a tough Sunday for Central Coast as Melbourne Victory unleashed their immense attacking weaponry in a 4-1 win.
However, Mariners winger Oar did his best to support the counter-strike, creating three scoring chances for his team-mates and firing two shots on target.
Melbourne City
Bruno Fornaroli
The Uruguayan had endured a frustrating start to the season but showed no lack of confidence in City’s 2-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix on Friday night.
He opened his account by doubling his side’s lead with one of four shots on target and remarkably finished the match with a 100 per cent pass completion rate.
.@BFornaroli opens his account for the 2018/19 season. #MCYvWEL #RemembranceRound #ALeague
🎥 @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/n5f7qbGkbp— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 9, 2018
Melbourne Victory
Keisuke Honda
One man who has had no such issues with hitting the ground running this season is Victory’s Honda.
The Japan star has recorded three assists and two goals from his first four Hyundai A-League matches after opening the scoring in Victory’s 4-1 triumph over Central Coast.
The underlying stats from the weekend support his significant influence as well, with a joint round-high of four chances created and two shots on target.
Melbourne Victory turned in their best performance of the season so far in tonight's 4-1 win over the Mariners.
But Keisuke Honda says Kevin Muscat's side must look to kick on from the result.
HONDA'S REACTION: https://t.co/zeVvORikFE #ALeague #MVCvCCM pic.twitter.com/Y5rbeXMyIV
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 11, 2018
Newcastle Jets
Lachlan Jackson
Hometown hero Nick Cowburn might have captured the headlines for his late leveller against Sydney FC, but it was team-mate Jackson who kept them in contention.
The defender won a team-high of 10 duels from 13 contests and made two interceptions to keep the deficit down to a single goal, while also preventing Adam Le Fondre from finding the net for the first time in a Sydney FC shirt.
A few maiden goals in Round 4 of the Hyundai #ALeague – some more intentional than others 😆https://t.co/xrIrG0esbj
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 12, 2018
Perth Glory
Chris Ikonomidis
Caltex Socceroos boss Graham Arnold put out the message that he was watching the Hyundai A-League closely and Ikonomidis heard it loud and clear.
The Glory winger was a consistent threat to Adelaide’s backline on Sunday, netting from his fourth shot on goal and creating two scoring chances.
Chris Ikonomidis hot start to the season has continued.#ADEvPER #RemembranceRound #ALeague
🎥 @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/UV6pxrQ2Gj— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 11, 2018
Sydney FC
Alex Brosque
Newcastle are more than aware of the predatory instincts of Brosque, with the Sky Blues forward now netting 14 times in his 29 meetings with Saturday’s hosts.
It took just one effort on target, his first-half near-post header, to open the scoring, while he created another goal-scoring opportunity and finished the game with 86 per cent passing accuracy.
Wellington Phoenix
Steven Taylor
It was a tough night for Wellington at AAMI Park on Friday but Taylor kept his side fighting with a battling display.
The experienced centre-back made three recoveries and two clearances, while maintaining an impressive pass completion rate of 88 per cent.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Oriol Riera
The Spanish striker couldn’t have done much more to secure three points for Western Sydney.
He had a round-high of six shots to hit the back of the net twice, but could only watch on as Brisbane roared back to secure a point.
A Jamie Young save wasn’t enough to stop Oriol Riera!
📺: Watch LIVE on @FOXFOOTBALL 505 or on the My Football Live App.#ALeague #WSWvBRI #RemembranceRound pic.twitter.com/N5XEOVmBwy
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 10, 2018
Opta Team of the Week (4-4-2)
Lawrence Thomas; Alex Lopez, Ritchie De Laet, Dino Djubic, Brendan Hamill; Riley McGree, Keisuke Honda, Jordan O’Doherty, James Troisi; Bruno Formaroli, Oriol Riera
