Central Coast v Perth GloryAdelaide United v Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory v Queensland Roar
In Round 5, we witnessed Perth Glory capture their first 3 points of the season with a crucial 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Wellington Phoenix. The Newcastle Jets and striker Joel Griffiths continued their dominance over their Eastern rivals, Queensland Roar, with a smash and grab 1-0 win at Suncorp Stadium. In Sydney, Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar made wholesale changes to his team after an Asian Champions League outing midweek and paid a heavy price with a 3-0 defeat. In the match of the round, Melbourne showed their 'never say die' attitude for a second week in a row, stealing a 2-2 draw at Central Coast despite losing goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos to a red card in the 57th minute.
Friday, September 26
Central Coast (4th) v Perth Glory (7th)
Summary: Central Coast have an opportunity to redeem themselves after letting two points slip against a 10-man Melbourne Victory. With 6 minutes of normal time remaining, Matt Simon put Central Coast ahead before Archie Thompson made the score 2-2 deep into injury time. Regardless of the dissapointment, Central Coast played some inspired football with some tidy passing and intelligent movement off the ball which augers well for the rest of the season. Perth got themselves off the foot of the A-League ladder with a battling 1-0 win against fellow strugglers, Wellington Phoenix. After a strong showing in a scoreless first half, Perth handed the initiative to Wellington until inspired substitutions by Dave Mitchell in the 70th minute, reversed the balance of play with the home team forcing the visitors back on their heels. The pressure finally paid off when Eugene Dadi was fouled in the penalty area and consequently converted the spot kick.
Current form:
Central Coast
Round 1: Newcastle Jets 1 - 1 Central Coast Mariners
Round 2: Central Coast Mariners 2 - 3 Sydney FC
Round 3: Queensland Roar 2 - 4 Central Coast Mariners
Round 4: Wellington Phoenix 0 - 0 Central Coast Mariners
Round 5: Central Coast Mariners 2 - 2 Melbourne Victory
Perth
Round 1: Adelaide United 1 - 0 Perth Glory
Round 2: Perth Glory 3 - 3 Newcastle Jets
Round 3: Sydney FC 5 - 2 Perth Glory
Round 4: Queensland Roar 3 - 0 Perth Glory
Round 5: Perth Glory 1 - 0 Wellington Phoenix
Central Coast
In: Nik Mrdja, Andrew Clark.
Out: Andrew Gumprecht, Dean Heffernan, Greg Owens, Danny Vukovic, Ahmad Elrich.
Perth
In: Frank Juric.
Out: Tando Velaphi, Amaral, James Downey, Dino Djulbic, Hayden Foxe.
Verdict: Central Coast have now put in a string of three decent performances and are now on a run of three games undefeated. Unfortunately for Central Coast manager, Laurie McKinna, his team hasn't been able to fully capitalize on their recent good form with only 5 points from a possible 9. Perth put in a spirited performance to overcome a solid if not inspiring Wellington side in Round 5. Naum Sekulovski and Adrian Trinidad did well when coming on as substitutes but midfield and defence still remains a problem for the Westerners. Wellington were not strong enough to expose these weaknesses but I fully expect Central Coast to do so if they continue their form of the past month. With the dissapointment of last week's result still lingering, it is highly likely that the Central Coast won't let this one slip.
Pick: Central Coast to WIN
Central Coast 4 - 1 Perth Glory
Saturday, September 27
Adelaide United (4th) v Newcastle Jets (5th)
Summary: Adelaide will need to immediately shift their attentions to the A-League after their wonderful exploits in the Asian Champions League midweek. After a precious away goal in Kashima, Adelaide confirmed their place in the semi-final with a fine 1-0 win at Hindmarsh Stadium. Newcastle were rather fortunate to come away with their first win of the season in Round 5 of the A-League, as they performed a 'smash and grab' operation at Suncorp Stadium, defeating Queensland 1-0. Joel Griffiths was again the man for Newcastle, scoring his 3rd goal of the campaign. Jets fans will be hoping for more of the same in this encounter.
Current form:
Adelaide
Round 1: Adelaide United 1 - 0 Perth Glory
Round 2: Queensland Roar 1 - 1 Adelaide United
Round 3: Adelaide United 3 - 0 Wellington Phoenix
Round 4: Melbourne Victory 1 - 0 Adelaide United
Round 5: Sydney FC 3 - 0 Adelaide United
Newcastle
Round 1: Newcastle Jets 1 - 1 Central Coast Mariners 1
Round 2: Perth Glory 3 - 3 Newcastle Jets 3
Round 3: Melbourne Victory 5 - 0Newcastle Jets
Round 4: Newcastle 0 - 0 Sydney FC
Round 5: Queensland Roar 0 - 1 Newcastle Jets
Adelaide
In: Angelo Costanzo, Lucas Pantelis, Paul Agostino, Travis Dodd, Fabian Barbiero, Diego, Jonas Salley.
Out:
Newcastle
In: Jesper Hakansson, Noel Spencer.
Out: Edmundo Zura.
Verdict: Newcastle's goal against Queensland was their first in 3 matches. To compound the problem, Jets manager Gary Van Egmond loses striker Edmundo Zura to a hamstring strain which means that young (and out of form) Olyroo, Jason Hoffman, will be asked to assist lone striker Joel Griffiths when going forward. Adelaide's travels over the last fortnight have been well documented in the Australian press as the South Australian team embark on their fifth match in 15 days! Reds manager, Aurelio Vidmar, will surely make changes to freshen up his tiring unit with flying winger Lucas Pantelis and tough midfielder Jonas Salley returning to the first eleven. Taking into consideration the ensuing changes to the Adelaide side and Newcastle's inability to find the back of the net, a scrappy and cagey encounter is on the cards.
Pick: UNDER 2.5 goals
Adelaide United 2 - 0 Newcastle Jets
Melbourne Victory (1st) v Queensland Roar (6th)
Summary: Two of the most free-flowing teams in the A-League face off in a tasty Round 6 contest. In the last round, Melbourne's self belief was on show once again as they battled back from been 2-1 and one man down to snatch a 2-2 draw right at the death, against a deflated Central Coast. In complete contrast, Queensland can count themselves unfortunate to lose 1-0 at the hands of Newcastle after having most of the possession and goal scoring opportunities. Melbourne's heroics in the past two rounds have come at a cost with first choice keeper, Michael Theoklitos, and Brazilian striker Ney Fabiano, both sitting this contest out through suspension.
Melbourne
In: Leigh Broxham, Lou Acevski.
Out: Michael Theoklitos.
Queensland
In: Tim Smits.
Out:
Melbourne
Round 1: Sydney FC 0 - 0 Melbourne Victory
Round 2: Wellington Phoenix 2 - 4 Melbourne Victory
Round 3: Melbourne Victory 5 - 0 Newcastle Jets
Round 4: Melbourne Victory 1 - 0 Adelaide United
Round 5: Central Coast Mariners 2 - 2 Melbourne Victory
Queensland
Round 1: Wellington Phoenix 1 - 1 Queensland Roar
Round 2: Queensland Roar 1 - 1 Adelaide United
Round 3: Queensland Roar 2 - 4 Central Coast Mariners
Round 4: Perth Glory 0 - 3 Queensland
Round 5: Queensland Roar 0 - 1 Newcastle Jets
Verdict: Queensland should be livid with last week's injust defeat and will be 'breaking a leg' to get something from this contest. Melbourne will have to make do with young unexperienced goalkeeper, Mitchell Langierak, between the sticks for today. Mitchell's first taste of A-League action this season came at Wellington where he conceded 2 goals. Queensland's impressive attacking unit in Van Dijk, Reinaldo and Miller will definitely give the young custodian a good work out. The loss of Fabiano for the Victory did nothing to curb their attacking potency against Central Coast, and we can expect more of the same today. Melbourne's fast paced strikers in Thompson and Allsopp will like their chances against veteran centre-half Craig Moore, for whom is not the quickest these days. I expect goals in this contest in front of what is expected to be a packed Telstra Dome in a festive mood, considering that a Melbourne team won the AFL Grand Final yesterday.
Pick: Over 2-2.5 goals
Melbourne Victory 0 - 2 Queensland Roar
(Half stake returned/Half lost)
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