Noah Botic has underlined his case for a Socceroos call-up, scoring as Western United rocketed to third on the ladder with a 3-0 win over Adelaide United.
Botic, 23, joined Sydney FC star Joe Lolley (nine goals) at the top of the golden boot standings with a clean finish in the 26th minute at Ironbark Fields last Sunday.
Hiroshi Ibusuki added a second from the penalty spot in the 59th minute before Riku Danzaki sealed all three points in the 88th.
Western next take on Central Coast away on Friday while Adelaide, who have won just one of their past five and battled injuries, illness and losing players to Young Socceroos duties, travel to Auckland on Saturday.
Both Perth Glory and Sydney FC had been left disappointed after their scoreless draw at HBF Park, with neither side able to take advantage of their moments of control across a back-and-forth contest.
Landing in Perth directly from Thailand after going to extra time in a steamy ACL2 win over Bangkok United midweek, Sydney were able to bring several managed starters on as late substitutes and threatened to finish strong.
Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar lashed a controversial penalty call while Melbourne Victory counterpart Arthur Diles said derbies should be reserved for the best referees after a drama-filled 2-2 draw.
Last Saturday night’s enthralling match at AAMI Park delivered four goals, but more talking points.
The most notable was Victory’s equalising penalty.
Winger Santos forced a big save from Patrick Beach and when Nikos Vergos attempted to pounce on the ball, German Ferreyra clipped his heel and Vergos hit the deck.
After a VAR review, referee Jonathan Barreiro awarded a penalty, which Machach converted.
Western Sydney cruised to a 4-0 win over struggling reigning champions Central Coast to charge into the top six.
The Wanderers extended their unbeaten run to four games, scoring twice in the opening 13 minutes, then taking a 3-0 lead by halftime.
Anthony Pantazopoulos launched a goal-kick deep into the Mariners’ half and Central Coast keeper Adam Pavlesic tried to head the ball to safety.
But he miscued it and instead sent the ball back over his own head, with Wanderers striker Zac Sapsford running on to it to tap home.
Another Wanderers score was from a Dean Pelekanos’ shot deflecting home off teammate Nicolas Milanovic.
Auckland FC crowned themselves kings of New Zealand football after destroying Wellington 6-1, ‘silencing’ their Kiwi rivals by securing a season whitewash in their debut A-League campaign.
Already having taken maximum points from two previous meetings, Steve Corica’s side were ruthless in putting down their foes at Mt Smart Stadium last Saturday, a hat-trick from Neyder Moreno and brace from Logan Rogerson powering them to a famous win in front of a record 27,009 crowd.
The result stretched Auckland’s lead atop the table to eight points as they continued their premiership push and heaped further pressure on Phoenix boss Giancarlo Italiano.
His side slipped further into the mire with the defeat, languishing in 11th place as the memories of last season’s second-placed finish fade as they struggle to deal with injuries to key players.
Fresh from helping Newcastle to a 3-1 win over Brisbane that brought their first winning hat-trick since 2018, Kota Mizunuma has vowed to take his game to the “next level” as the Jets pursue an unlikely finals berth.
After providing three assists in his first four games since arriving from Yokohama F Marinos, Mizunuma grabbed his first goal in Jets colours in the 21st minute last Friday evening at McDonald Jones Stadium, ending a slick passage in which the hosts sliced across the Roar’s penalty area.
Unbeaten since Mizunuma’s arrival – a five-game run that’s their longest unbeaten stretch in three years – the Jets climbed out of the league’s bottom three for the first time since November.
Suffering their 12th defeat of the campaign, the Roar remain rooted to the foot of the ladder with 10 games left in their campaign.
This week third-placed Western United head north to take on Central Coast on Friday night, then Wellington host City. Adelaide United travel to take on Auckland in a tantalising top-two clash, Brisbane host Victory and Macarthur FC take on Sydney FC. On Sunday, Western Sydney host Perth.
Matchday 20 – Schedule AEDT
Friday 28/2
Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City 5.30pm
Central Coast Mariners v Western United 7.35pm
Saturday 1/3
Auckland FC v Adelaide United 3pm
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory 5pm
Macarthur Bulls v Sydney FC 7.35pm
Sunday 2/3
Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory 5pm
Standings (as of the completion of Round 20)
Teams Win Draw Loss Points
1. Auckland FC 12.3.2.39
2. Adelaide Utd 9.4.4.31
3. Western Utd 8.5.5.29
4. Melb Victory 8.5.5.29
5. Western Sydney 8.4.6.28
6. Melb City 8.4.5.28
7. Sydney FC 7.5.6.26
8. Macarthur 7.4.7.25
9. Newcastle Jets 6.3.8.21
10. Central Coast 4.9.5.21
11. Wellington 5.4.8.19
12. Perth Glory 2.5.12.11
13. Brisbane Roar 1.3.12.6
With AAP
