The premiership race is still alive for Melbourne Victory after a strong success against Macarthur FC, as the A-League’s regular season continues to draw towards a thrilling conclusion.

Victory comfortably defeated Macarthur in the biggest contest of the A-League’s 25th round, going within five points of league leaders, Melbourne City, with a game in hand.

Arthur Papas’ Newcastle side’s hopes of finals football have been all but destroyed after they suffered a heartbreaking home derby loss to their rivals, Central Coast.

Both Wellington and Adelaide vastly improved their odds of a top six finish after earning wins against Western Sydney and Perth Glory respectively.

Adelaide United-Perth Glory 2-0

The Reds rallied to hand the desolate Glory outfit the wooden spoon on Sunday evening, while also hugely improving their chances of reaching the finals series.

Adelaide pulled ahead through a tap-in from midfielder Bernardo Oliveira following a fantastic run and smart pass across goal from left back Ryan Kitto (24′).

Reds winger Nestory Irankunda guaranteed the result after his phenomenal strike from a very tight angle flew into the top left corner (90+4′).

Midfielder Nathan Konstandopoulos played the final 14 minutes for Adelaide.

Wellington Phoenix-Western Sydney 1-0

The Phoenix fought hard to win their second match on New Zealand soil this campaign, practically ending the Wanderers’ chances of finals football.

Wellington went in front after combining for an excellent team goal, tapped in by young striker Ben Waine (22′).

Western Sydney midfielder Steven Ugarkovic made a costly error when he slipped in the run-up for his penalty, sending the ball way off target (39′).

Defender Johnny Koutroumbis came incredibly close to scoring when his effort from range deflected onto the crossbar (70′).

The game worsened for the Wanderers when their coach (and former manager of Wellington), Mark Rudan, was sent off, much to the delight of the home crowd (90+1′).

The Wanderers also started James Troisi and subbed on late Tassos Mourdoukoutas.

Newcastle Jets-Central Coast 2-4

The Jets were stunned by the Mariners in a thrilling F3 derby on Saturday night, all but ending Newcastle’s dreams of a top six placement.

Forward Matheus Moresche lobbed the ball past an advancing Jack Duncan to give the Gosford side their first (19′) before striker Jason Cummings struck twice with a header (30′) and a penalty (34′).

The Novocastrians dug deep to get back in the contest, scoring twice inside the first five minutes of the second half through wide player Lucas Mauragis (46′) and an own goal from defender Jacob Farrell (50′).

Newcastle thought they had equalised through Savvas Siatravanis’ header (82′) until VAR ruled a foul had been committed immediately prior by a Newcastle player.

Central Coast substitute forward Garang Kuol ended any chance of a comeback when he found the bottom left corner to give the Mariners their fourth (90+1′), while the Jets’ night went further downhill with playmaker Daniel Penha’s late red card (90+6′).

Kosta Grozos played the first 74 minutes of the contest for the Novocastrians.

Newcastle coach Arthur Papas was disappointed with the referee decision regarding Siatravanis’ disallowed goal which he believes had some impact on the end result.

“This game shouldn’t have been about a refereeing decision in the end. You can accept that, when you’re down in the game, it’s your responsibility to try get back in and let the game play on its merits but not for it to be decided by such a big call. That really is disappointing,” Mr Papas said post-match.

Macarthur FC-Melbourne Victory 1-4

The Victorian club combined excellently to down Macarthur on Friday night, continuing their fine run of form as they approach the business end of the season.

Winger Ben Folami put the Melbournians ahead following a corner (28′) before midfielder Jake Brimmer made it two after converting his penalty (53′).

Bulls winger Craig Noone got one back with his own spot-kick (56′) but former Olympiacos and current Victory defender Roderick Miranda flicked the ball in masterfully to restore the two-goal advantage (81′) before his side’s captain, Josh Brillante, deflected effort secured the points (90+4′).

Macarthur started Apostolos Giannou, who played the first 61 minutes, while the Melbournians subbed on Chris Ikonomidis for the final 21 minutes.

Victory manager Tony Popovic praised his team’s fantastic form of late, reaching 12 league matches unbeaten, which he hopes will last.

“With every result we grow in confidence…it’s another fantastic away win against a team that obviously has a lot to fight for, as Newcastle did, so very positive. We now need to continue this,” Mr Popovic said post-match.

Melbourne City and Sydney FC had no games on account of their AFC Champions League commitments while Brisbane Roar and Western United did not feature.

A-League Ladder (number of matches played)

1-Melbourne City: 46 (24)

2-Western United: 44 (23)

3-Melbourne Victory: 41 (23)

4-Adelaide United: 37 (24)

5-Wellington Phoenix: 36 (23)

6-Central Coast: 33 (23)

7-Macarthur FC: 32 (24)

8-Sydney FC: 31 (24)

9-Newcastle Jets: 25 (23)

10-Western Sydney: 25 (23)

11-Brisbane Roar: 22 (22)

12-Perth Glory: 14 (24)

Round 26 fixtures currently scheduled at time of publication

Melbourne Victory-Wellington Phoenix: 19.45, Fri 29 Apr

CC Mariners-Western United: 16.05, Sat 30 Apr

Adelaide United-Brisbane Roar: 19.45, Sat 30 Apr

Perth Glory-WS Wanderers: 19.45, Sat 30 Apr

Macarthur FC-Newcastle Jets: 16.05, Sun 1 May