The finals race lost a couple more competitors on the weekend and an intriguing battle for second looms over the final two rounds. Recap all the action from R.25.
The finals race lost a couple more competitors on the weekend and an intriguing battle for second looms over the final two rounds. Recap all the action from Round 25.
Brisbane Roar 2-1 Melbourne Heart
A ten-man Brisbane Roar outfit came from behind to defeat Melbourne Heart 2-1 in the first match of Round 25 at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
Aziz Behich gave the visitors a deserved lead in the 18th minute after neat build up from Massimo Murdocca and Mate Dugandzic.
Roar restored parity to the clash before the interval with young gun Dimitri Petratos making no mistake after receiving a great pass from skipper Matt Smith.
Albanian ace Besart Berisha received his marching orders in the 49th minute as a result of lunging in for the ball at the same time as Melbourne shot stopper Tando Velaphi and catching him in the head with his studs.
The star striker-s send off sees him become the first player to receive three red cards in a Hyundai A-League season.
Substitute Henrique found the net for the hosts with just over 15 minutes remaining as he fired his curling effort past Velaphi from the edge of the area.
Central Coast Mariners 2-1 Western Sydney Wanderers
Central Coast Mariners sealed a late 2-1 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium on Saturday evening.
Goals from Josh Rose and Bernie Ibini helped the yellow and navy to their first win against Tony Popovic-s men this season, while Nikolai Topor-Stanley found the net for the away team.
The home side opened the scoring in the 32nd minute via the boot of Rose. The Rockhampton-born flyer went on a great run and made no mistake as he fired the ball beyond Covic and into the net for his first goal of the campaign.
Former Newcastle Jets man Topor-Stanley leveled the score for Wanderers in the 40th minute following a neat ball in from Tomi Juric.
In the 56th minute Ibini was introduced for Mile Sterjovski, with the former LOSC Lille and FC Basel man receiving a standing ovation in his last home match of the regular season before his retirement.
On-loan Shanghai SIPG player Ibini did find the net for the Mariners in the dying stages. Ibini made no mistake as he netted his fifth goal of the season after a pinpoint pass from Storm Roux to send the yellow and navy section of the 13,157-strong crowd into raptures.
Melbourne Victory 1-1 Sydney FC
Melbourne Victory shared the points with Sydney FC following a dramatic 1-1 draw at AAMI Park on Saturday.
The home side began to control the tempo halfway through the opening stanza and they came close to finding the net through chances to James Troisi and Guilherme Finkler.
Sydney marquee man Alessandro Del Piero had a golden opportunity to write his name onto the scoresheet after half an hour as he fired his free kick wide of the far post.
The Sky Blues opened their account early in the second half via the boot of youngster Joel Chianese, before Troisi equalised for Victory in the 63rd minute after he connected with Finkler.
Wellington Phoenix 0-1 Adelaide United
Adelaide United claimed all three points after their 1-0 win against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A penalty from Marcelo Carrusca in the 58th minute helped the Reds move into fourth spot on the Hyundai A-League ladder.
Kenny Cunningham had a good opportunity in the early stages for the hosts. However, the Costa Rican international-s shot fell straight to the hands of Adelaide ‘keeper Eugene Galekovic.
Stein Huysegems nearly broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time as he had a one-on-one chance with Galekovic, who made a strong save to deny the Belgian forward.
Carrusca coolly converted his strike from the penalty spot with just over half an hour left to play following Andrew Durante-s challenge on Tarek Elrich inside the area.
Perth Glory 2-1 Newcastle Jets
Perth Glory got themselves back on the winners list in dramatic fashion, with two late goals seeing them come from behind to snatch a 2-1 win at home against Newcastle.
The Jets looked set to bank a valuable three points after Adam Taggart registered his 14th goal of the campaign just after the hour mark at nib Stadium.
However a stunning free-kick from Nebojsa Marinkovic in the 84th minute gave Glory the ascendency and they took the lead just a minute later with a goal from Chris Harold.
The remarkable turn-around snapped a 10-game winless run for Kenny Lowe-s side and continued Glory-s recent dominance over the Jets – Newcastle have now not beaten Perth in their last nine encounters.
The result sees Newcastle drop outside the top-six, while Perth are still a chance of avoiding the dreaded wooden spoon as they now sit bottom only on goal difference.
