Perth Glory humiliated Newcastle Jets as Melbourne Victory breathed life into their A-League campaign with a much-needed derby triumph on Saturday.
Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC began the triple-header with an entertaining four-goal draw but the majority of the goalmouth action was to be found in a stunning 6-2 result at Perth’s HBF Park.
Diego Castro guided home a brilliant free-kick and Neil Kilkenny converted a penalty after Nikolai Topor-Stanley’s equaliser to give Tony Popovic’s team a slim advantage at the interval, before the visitors began to fall apart.
Joel Chianese struck within a minute of the restart and, though Steven Ugarkovic grabbed one back, that was as good as it got for the Jets.
Bruno Fornaroli hit a 12-minute brace and Castro completed his double seven minutes from the end to cap a dominant display from the resurgent premiers, who would have had a seventh through James Meredith if not Chianese’s handball in the build-up.
Champagne football at HBF Park today! pic.twitter.com/SLTV8OfYAA
— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) December 21, 2019
Ola Toivonen had earlier been Victory’s two-goal hero at AAMI Park as his first-half headers consigned second-placed Melbourne City to a 2-1 loss.
Harrison Delbridge halved the deficit from a corner in the 56th minute but Victory held firm to register their third win of the season.
Look at what it means! #MVFC #OurVictory pic.twitter.com/NO7zLP4Jcg
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) December 21, 2019
The derby defeat meant City failed to capitalise on Sydney FC’s slip-up against Wellington, the leaders fortunate to gain a 2-2 draw at Westpac Stadium after taking a 14th-minute lead through Adam Le Fondre.
Reno Piscopo responded just over 10 minutes later and set up Ulises Davila to give Wellington the lead before half-time.
Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay was on course to celebrate victory over his former employers until Steven Taylor diverted a free-kick into his own net, an error compounded by Davila’s point-blank miss with just under 20 minutes remaining.
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