A fantastic Round Nine of the Hyundai A-League saw Brisbane Roar open up a five-point gap at the top of the table.
A fantastic Round Nine of the Hyundai A-League saw Brisbane Roar open up a five-point gap at the top of the table.
Adelaide United 1-2 Brisbane Roar
Adelaide United shocked Brisbane Roar by taking the lead at Coopers Stadium, but they were undone by the stealth and composure of Besart Berisha, who scored in either half.
Adelaide took an early lead through Osama Malik, but some ill-discipline from Tarek Elrich gave Roar the chance to equalise from the spot. Elrich carelessly brought down Corey Brown and the referee awarded a penalty, in the 21st minute.
Berisha made no mistake, sending Eugene Galekovic the wrong way.
As is usual, Adelaide had more possession than their opponents, but it mattered little when Berisha snuck into the area and slid a finish past Galekovic to win the game.
Perth Glory 4-2 Wellington Phoenix
Perth Glory scored twice at the death to secure three points and equal sixth place. Their win puts a buffer between the top part of the table and the bottom three teams: Adelaide United, Wellington and Melbourne Heart.
Glory started spectacularly, when Sidnei lashed an unstoppable 25-yarder into the top corner of the net in the 15th minute. The lead didn-t last until half time though, as Stijn Heysugems scored a stunner of his own for the Phoenix to level the scores.
Paul Ifill was a constant menace and he was rewarded with a headed goal, but Michael Thwaite scored a header of his own to level the scores once more. It was left to Adrian Zahra and then Sidnei again to steal the three points for the home side.
Western Sydney Wanderers 1-1 Melbourne Heart
Wanderers are now three games without a win, after drawing with bottom of the table Melbourne Heart. The draw leaves Wanderers five points behind Brisbane Roar and only one ahead of both Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC.
Heart meanwhile are rejuvenated after their epic 3-3 draw with Adelaide last weekend and they took the lead here, when David Williams- cross from the left beat everybody, including Wanderers ‘keeper Ante Covic, to nestle in the back of the net.
Wanderers drew level when Aaron Mooy arrowed a shot into the bottom corner and the revived Wanderers turned up the heat in the second half as they searched for a winner.
Heart-s shot stopper, Andrew Redmayne, made a number of good saves as Wanderers pushed hard. Harry Kewell-s return in the second half and the point away from home here, gives plenty of reason for optimism for the Heart.
Central Coast Mariners 1-0 Sydney FC
Sydney FC travelled north to Bluetongue Stadium on the back of a club record four straight wins. They were missing Alessandro Del Piero though and his place was taken by Ranko Despotovic, who had scored twice in two appearances as a substitute.
Mariners had Daniel McBreen back in the line-up and it was he who settled the game in the first half. His neat back-heel finish caught the Sydney FC defence and goalkeeper out.
The Sky Blues chased the game, with Pedj Bojic and Joel Chianese finding a lot of space on the right hand side, but the end product was poor and they didn-t test Mariners ‘keeper Liam Reddy enough in the second half.
Michael McGlinchey was magnificent for the home side, pulling the strings with aplomb as the Mariners recorded a well deserved victory.
Melbourne Victory 1-2 Newcastle Jets
The 1000th match in the A-League took place between Victory and Jets. Neatly enough, Newcastle were part of the first ever A-League match but on this occasion, they managed to get the win.
The on-loan Nathan Burns was the hero of the afternoon, scoring twice to give the Jets a win that lifts them into third position.
Burns gave Newcastle the lead with a goal in the 44th minute – his first since in the A-league since scoring for Adelaide United in October 2007.
The lead didn-t last long. James Troisi scored the equaliser just six minutes after the break – with his sixth goal of the season.
Newcastle bounced back strongly though and they took the lead for the second time in the 66th minute. Mark Milligan slid in and blocked James Brown-s cross, but Burns was on hand to tuck the rebound into the bottom corner.
Although Victory pushed for a second equaliser, Newcastle held on with relative ease to claim the points.
