There was late drama in Newcastle and Melbourne, the champions earned a much-needed three points and a wonder goal consigned strugglers Perth Glory to their eighth defeat in 11 games.
Here are your A-League talking points.
Marines pile more misery on Zadkovich
Heading north after a four-game winless run, Central Coast were pretty much in must-win territory against Brisbane Roar. When Ben Halloran levelled the scores with 20 minutes to play the champions must have started to feel the pressure but Harrison Steele fired them back in front ten minutes later, before Hosine Bility’s sending off relieved more pressure and Arthur De Lima put the icing on the cake.
Not the most convincing performance, nevertheless an important result for Mark Jackson’s side as they finally look to put their stuttering form into the rearview mirror and mount a serious challenge for at least a top-four finish.
Brisbane are left to lick their wounds as their record worsened to 0-2-8 in what is quickly turning into a lost season. They have a game in hand on sixth-placed Western United but need to make up a 16-point gap to be any chance of playing finals football in 2024-25. If the Bakrie Group haven’t moved to fire Ruben Zadkovich yet he ostensibly has the balance of this season to right the ship.
At least the playing and coaching staff can be proud of a spirited performance on Friday night, but they just need some wins on the board right now, however they may come, as they’ve suffered through a club record 13 games without a win.
High-quality Wanderers-Victory clash ends all square
Outside of the major derbies, matches between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney are usually some of the best in the competition. Saturday night’s 2-2 draw was no exception with Ryan Teague earning his side a point after keeping his composure and beating Lawrence Thomas from the spot with just minutes on the clock.
Teague has been key to the Victory side under interim manager Arthur Diles after the whole club was left reeling from Patrick Kisnorbo’s sudden exit from AAMI Park, although it is now four games without a win.
Post-match Alen Stajcic praised the level of play from both sides, and deservedly so. Improvement in the quality of play year over year is difficult to quantify but even just looking at some of the names on paper we’re lucky to have tells you that, at least in terms of on-field play, the A-League is in decent health right now.
Ryan Teague celebrates a goal (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
Wanderers sit one win outside the finals places, stabilising after a pretty slow start to Stajcic’s tenure. The home defeat to Macarthur was definitely a bump in the road but any tension between Juan Mata and the Western Sydney boss seems to have dissipated in recent weeks with the former Manchester United star handed consecutive starts.
Now is the time for WSW to string together three, four or five wins to really make a statement that they can challenge the league’s best sides for a top-four or better finish.
Sky Blues overcome miserable first half as Jets denied much-needed win
For all their quality off-season business, it has been a poor 2024-25 campaign for Sydney FC under Ufuk Talay. They were highly fancied to beat the struggling Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium but ultimately needed quality finishes from Joe Lolley and Anthony Caceres to even rescue one point.
Talay’s tactics were again questioned, and his substitutions (or lack thereof) continue to raise eyebrows as well. I wrote a few weeks ago about how the Sky Blues should be coming under plenty of criticism and nothing has really changed in the matches since, with the 3-0 win in the Big Blue heavily affected by the Machach red card. Talay has been in the dugout for 14 months now, he got the players he wanted – so where are the results?
Rob Stanton was clearly disappointed with the final score but praised his team’s effort level, one of the Jets’ best performances in another difficult season. It was good to see 8500 through the gates on Saturday afternoon, and the locals likely would have been treated to a victory if not for Ryan Scott’s crucial error.
If this isn’t the season Newcastle take a step and return to the finals, they at least need to learn to close out games like this one. Lolley is pretty difficult to stop once he comes in from the right, Arjen Robben-esque, but multiple defenders were in position to at least hinder the Englishman’s strike.
Lauton bicycle sinks Perth
Western United youngster Jordan Lauton has earned his place in A-League lore, scoring a sensational bicycle kick deep into injury time to ensure Western United beat Perth, before pulling off his shirt and getting sent off. An interesting way to mark your first goal for the club.
Glory, at home, were up 2-1 through 90 minutes but conceded a 91st-minute equaliser through Tate Russell, letting the visitors back into the game for the second time of the evening before disaster struck just minutes later. In a similar vein to Newcastle and Brisbane, the wins aren’t so much important for ladder position as much as building a winning culture at the club. No one expected Perth to immediately climb into championship contention but a 1-2-8 record is unacceptable no matter how you slice it, and losing has become much too common in the west over the last few seasons.
There may be some light at the end of the tunnel for Perth fans as there could be room to add a significant signing or two to the playing squad once the January window opens up next week.