Newcastle Jets 1 Adelaide United 2: Last-gasp Goodwin spot-kick earns thrilling win

Craig Goodwin scored a dramatic stoppage-time penalty to clinch a first win in four A-League matches for Adelaide United as they beat Newcastle Jets 2-1 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Nikola Mileusnic scored a first-half tap-in to put the visitors on course to allay the frustration of being held to a 2-2 draw by Western Sydney Wanderers on Wednesday.

But Marco Kurz’s men were undone by Jets substitute Kaine Sheppard’s expert cross from which Roy O’Donovan crashed a downwards header into the net to put the hosts back on terms after 75 minutes.

Just as Newcastle looked to have secured a share of the points, captain Nigel Boogaard felled substitute Ryan Kitto in the box and Goodwin made no mistake from the spot to clinch a victory that moved his side up to fourth in the A-League standings.

A late winner from the spot by Craig Goodwin gives us all three points! #AUFC #NEWvADL pic.twitter.com/AqMuPydBy9

— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) December 30, 2018

The Jets went into the game on a high after their 2-1 victory at Central Coast Mariners seven days earlier but fell behind when Ben Halloran’s chip beat goalkeeper Glen Moss and bounced back off the post into the path of Mileusnic, who gratefully poked it home.

The home side poured forward in search of an equaliser and O’Donovan found the net from close range in the 67th minute, only to find the offside flag had correctly been raised against him.

The 33-year-old was not to be denied eight minutes later when he met Sheppard’s floated ball with a clinical header that beat United goalkeeper Paul Izzo at his near post.

But Boogaard’s rash challenge on Kitto afforded Goodwin the chance to win the game from the penalty spot and the midfielder showed his class with a cool finish into the bottom left corner of the net.