Phenomenal scores, unexpected wins and a coach losing his job have made for a very interesting summer football campaign.
Over the past two weeks, fans have had a lot to celebrate and a lot to contemplate.
Violence marred a fiercely fought match between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers, with both teams calling for tough action on hooliganism.
After a pre-game brawl broke out in a Melbourne pub, several people sustaining injuries, fans have been put on notice.
Melbourne Heart had enough and gave coach John Aloisi his marching orders after a horror 12 match losing streak.
It came after the team suffered yet another demoralising 1-0 loss, this time at the hands of Wellington Phoenix.
Now the club will be under the hands of former coach John van ‘t Schip, who was announced this week to replace Aloisi and to ferry the team to the end of the season.
He was at the helm at training on Friday, and will be seeing Heart into their first game of the year on Sunday against Central Coast Mariners at Bluetongue Stadium.
The defending champions secured a nail-biting home win over a 10-man Perth Glory this week, after a hard 2-0 loss at the hands of the Wanderers.
The Mariners have struggled to gain a steady pace, but still play a full 90 minutes as this week’s match showed, securing the winning last minute goal thanks to Michael McGlinchey.
Player of the week had to go to Brisbane Roar’s Dimitri Petratos, who managed his first hat trick of the season against his old team, Sydney FC.
The 5-1 win was one of Brisbane Roar’s best, coming back from 1-0 down to score five unanswered goals.
Roar coach Mike Mulvey couldn’t speak more highly of Petratos’ performance last week.
“He’s got great character and I knew that when we released him onto the field,” he said.
“He’s got so much energy, he’s got quality that it doesn’t matter if he’s playing against Sydney FC or anyone else.”
The league leaders will now have their sights on their match against Melbourne Victory on Saturday.
They sit a clean five points ahead of second Western Sydney Wanderers and a good eight points ahead of third placed Victory.
Adelaide United managed a battered 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets and they will come up against a fiery Sydney FC tonight.
Adelaide coach Josep Gombau has been under some pressure over his faltering team, but after picking up seven points in three matches, he’s making up for it.
His team has seen better days though, after the Jets left Gombau’s team bruised and battered.
Jets trio Taylor Regan, captain Ruben Zadkovich and Nathan Burns were all booked for three separate challenges on United’s Marcelo Carrusca, who eventually was forced to exit the game after copping repeated battering.
He will be noticeably absent at their game tonight, still nursing a concussion.
