A-League wrap: Victory show Magilton their ability

Melbourne Victory put a tough week behind them to register a gritty 2-1 win over a 10-man Newcastle Jets on Saturday.

Just 24 hours after sacking coach Mehmet Durakovic, Victory produced yet another solid home performance to give caretaker coach Kevin Muscat a 100 percent winning record before the incoming Jim Magilton takes over next week.

And it was Jets defender Byun Sung-Hwan that the hosts had to thank, with the Korean picking up an unlikely brace of own goals to help Victory to the three points.

Hwan scored an own goal in each half, while Jets skipper Ryan Griffiths netted a late consolation for the visitors who had to play the majority of the second half without defender Tarek Elrich.

Elrich was shown a straight red eight minutes into the second half for denying Victory striker Danny Allsopp a clear goalscoring opportunity and the Jets failed to recover from the dismissal, despite Griffiths’ late strike.

Meanwhile, Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar defied the elements to play out a fiercely-contested 1-1 draw.

Issey Nakajima-Farran’s 60th-minute goal came after his first-half challenge on Fabian Berbiero earned him a yellow card, triggered a melee and saw him jeered by the home crowd.

His effort was matched in the 79th minute when Sergio van Dijk thumped a penalty past Brisbane keeper Micheal Theoklitos after being controversially brought down by Roar skipper Matthew Smith.

For the Roar, it may not have been the 7-1 thrashing they inflicted on the Reds the last time they met in October, but it was still a good response after coach Ange Postecoglou branded his players ‘cowards’ after his side’s 3-3 draw against Perth Glory on Wednesday.

With the draw, United are still undefeated across four matches since caretaker coach John Kosmina replaced Rini Coolen at the helm last month.