A look back at the A-League Men’s round 13 ahead of this week’s round. Melbourne City take top spot while Adelaide follow in second on equal points. Auckland dropped to third while Sydney and Macarthur rise. Melbourne Victory struggle and drop out of the six.
A stunning derby
Western United had to come from behind three times and score two stoppage time goals to pinch a stunning 4-3 win over Melbourne Victory in a classic derby at AAMI Park last Friday.
Seven days after Jordan Lauton’s spectacular goal gave United an epic win over Glory in Perth, John Aloisi’s team cemented themselves as the comeback kings of the league.
Japanese striker Hiroshi Ibusuki was the match-winner, slotting his second goal of the night in the 94th minute to break the 3-3 deadlock and silence the parochial Victory crowd.
Victory surrendered a one-goal advantage in both halves, and then in the 91st minute through a stunning header from United’s Noah Botic.
It was a fifth-straight winless appearance for Victory, who last took all three points on December 8 against lowly Perth.
Victory consistently broke through United’s defence in the first half while creating far more chances, and should have been further in front than 2-1 at the break.
Roar lose again
Brisbane slumped to the worst start to a season in A-League Men history last Saturday in the 1-0 loss to Melbourne City with their 10th defeat in 12 games.
City are undefeated from their past seven matches in a big tick for the coaching of Aurelio Vidmar, who declared they “haven’t achieved anything”.
As City eye the title, the Roar’s campaign has been nothing short of a disaster. They are now the owners of the worst record from the first 12 games of a season in the 20-year history of the competition.
Stranded on the bottom of the table, Brisbane are winless with just two draws to go with their 10 defeats, even worse than the New Zealand Knights back in 2005 when they had three points from 12 games.
The club’s last win was a 2-1 away victory over Western Sydney on April 5 – 283 days ago. Their club record winless streak has stretched to 15 games.
Reds hit straps as Phoenix become road kill
Adelaide United capitalised on two costly errors by Wellington Phoenix to claim a 2-1 win to maintain their perfect away record in 2024-25.
Heading to Sky Stadium on Saturday seeking a sixth win in their sixth away game of the season, the Reds entered the last 15 minutes with their record under threat, with Matthew Sheridan’s seventh-minute own goal cancelled out by Corban Piper’s 50th-minute header.
But another calamitous error by the Phoenix defence opened the door for substitute striker Luka Jovanovic to seal all three points in the 75th minute, the youngster pouncing when keeper Josh Oluwayemi dropped the ball after colliding with teammate Scott Wootton when he moved to claim a Dylan Perias cross.
The Phoenix’s blushes spared Carl Veart’s side some of their own after they were unable to capitalise on a first half in which they were dominant but failed to add to their lead.
The result ensured Adelaide will carry momentum into their Original Rivalry showdown with Melbourne Victory.
Without skipper Alex Rufer, Marco Rojas and Tim Payne through injury, the result means the Phoenix have lost five of their past six games and are at risk of losing touch with the top six as the halfway point of the season nears.
Segecic hat-trick stuns Mariners
Adrian Segecic came off the bench and scored a hat-trick to fire Sydney FC to a 4-1 win over Central Coast and into the top six last weekend.
With the scores one goal apiece at Allianz Stadium, the hosts looked to have fluffed their best opportunity to jump ahead after Segecic sent the ball wide despite an open goal in the 67th minute.
But the substitute found his redemption five minutes later, adding the finishing touches to a brilliant through-ball from Anthony Caceres for the lead.
While the reigning champions remain tenth with only three wins so far, Central Coast coach Mark Jackson refuses to rule out finals.
Auckland fall from the top in huge upset
Auckland were toppled from the top of the ladder after suffering a shock 1-0 loss to strugglers Perth Glory in front of 5390 fans at HBF Park.
Glory entered Saturday night’s match having lost their past seven games at home, knowing one more loss would equal the league record currently held by Brisbane.
But a 29th-minute rocket from 18-year-old striker Jaylan Pearman and some goalkeeping heroics from Oliver Sail helped lift Glory to victory.
Their second win of the season – and first home victory since a 3-2 win over Brisbane on February 17 last year – will at least momentarily ease the pressure on first-year coach David Zdrilic.
Naive Jets suffer home loss
Licking their wounds after a 3-1 loss to Macarthur FC, Newcastle coach Rob Stanton says his players paid the price for “naivety” and got what they deserved.
With Socceroos coach Tony Popovic watching from the stands at McDonald Jones Stadium on Sunday, the Jets had forced the visitors on to the back foot early after Ben Gibson picked up a Clayton Taylor through-ball for the opening score in the 18th minute.
But their ascendancy did not come, with Bulls captain Valere Germain returning serve for Macarthur five minutes later, easily toe-poking Ivan Vujica’s cross home.
Jed Drew picked up the crumbs of Bernardo’s failed scoring attempt to fire Macarthur ahead in the 59th minute, before his Brazilian teammate struck truly in added time.
Momentum swung back in favour of Newcastle late in the second half as the hosts desperately tried to salvage a point.
While Macarthur are in the top six with their sixth straight away win, Newcastle are languishing in third-last spot after squandering their chance to notch their first home win of the season.
They have not won at home in seven matches since April 2024 and have won only three times across 11 games this campaign.
Wanderers deny Glory
He doesn’t think his side was at their best but Alen Stajcic’s return to West Australia has ultimately proven a happy one after his Western Sydney closed in on the A-League Men’s top six by defeating Perth Glory 2-1 on Tuesday.
Surrendering a fourth-minute lead via a comical own goal, skipper Adam Taggart got the Glory back in at HBF Park but Zac Sapford’s 59th-minute run and shot ensured his coach would enjoy a win against his previous employer.
The Wanderers had little time to savour it: immediately jumping on a red-eye flight ahead of a Friday evening game with Central Coast.
Their hopes of a second-straight home win dashed by defensive errors, the Glory remain second bottom but put in another performance suggesting their insipid early season displays are in the past.
Teen denies Sydney in debut
Wellington stand-in skipper Scott Wootton has lavished praise on debutant keeper Alby Kelly-Heald after the teenager helped his side keep a rare clean sheet to secure a 0-0 draw with Sydney FC.
Given the nod to start by Giancarlo Italiano after an error from English import Josh Oluwayemi led to Adelaide’s late winner over the Phoenix last Saturday, the 19-year-old produced several sharp saves as his side secured a point that moved them out of the bottom four.
Entering the contest as the league’s highest-scoring side, the Sky Blues huffed and puffed across the 90 minutes but proved unable to break through a stubborn Phoenix side that offered enough in transition to keep the visitors from going all out on attack.
In coach Ufuk Talay’s first visit to Sky Stadium since leaving the Phoenix managerial role, his side outshot the hosts 19 to five and had 34 touches in the opposition’s penalty area compared to seven but lacked a lethal edge.
Though missing the chance to move into the league’s top three, it was the third clean sheet in the Sky Blues’ six-game unbeaten run and their first on the road in 2024-25 – in sharp contrast with the leaky defence that hampered their early-season efforts.
Matchday 15 – Schedule AEDT
Friday 17/1
Western United v Newcastle Jets 5pm
Western Sydney v Central Coast 7.35pm
Saturday 18/1
Auckland FC v Melbourne City 3pm
Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar 5pm
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory 7.35pm
Monday 20/1
Macarthur v Wellington Phoenix 7pm
On Wednesday Jan 22 at 7.30pm, Adelaide will host Auckland as part of Matchday 14
Standings
Teams Win Draw Loss Points
1. Melb City 7.3.2.24
2. Adelaide 7.3.1.24
3. Auckland 7.2.2.23
4. Sydney FC 6.3.4.21
5. Macarthur 6.3.4.21
6. Western Utd 6.3.4.21
7. Melb Victory 5.4.3.19
8. Western Sydney 5.3.4.18
9. Well Phoenix 4.2.6.14
10. Central Coast 3.5.4.14
11. Newcastle Jets 3.1.7.10
12. Perth Glory 2.2.10.8
13. Brisbane Roar 0.2.10.2
With AAP
