3 minute read

A look at the ninth week of the A-League, with Melbourne Victory still struggling and Western United finding their scoring power against Macarthur.

THEY SAID IT: "If that doesn't want to make you turn it around, if that doesn't make you want to get everything you've got to turn it round, then in all honesty, you shouldn't be here." - Melbourne Victory coach Grant Brebner after his players were booed off the pitch by their fans following their loss to Newcastle.

MAN OF THE WEEK: With his brace against Macarthur FC, Besart Berisha scored his 137th and 138th A-League goals, drawing level with, then overtaking Rod Brown to snare outright second place on the all-time Australian national league scorers' list, behind only Damian Mori (240).

BEAT THAT: Iker Guarrotxena's first A-League goal was a spectacular one, with the Western United attacker skipping past Macarthur's Benat Etxebarria and unleashing a delightful low, long-range shot into the bottom corner.

STAT ATTACK: In converting all three penalties for Adelaide against Central Coast, Tomi Juric became the first A-League player to score a hat-trick comprised solely of spot-kicks.

TALKING POINT: The Mariners were desperately hard done by against Adelaide - with all three penalties conceded in their 3-2 loss questionable. The VAR had a big say in two of the penalties - upholding the first and calling play back for the Reds' third.

UNDER PRESSURE: Melbourne Victory slumped to their fifth loss from seven games with a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle and saw Adama Traore (hamstring), Nick Ansell (hamstring) and Storm Roux (concussion) all forced out of the game.

UP NEXT: Melbourne City return to action against Sydney FC at AAMI Park on Tuesday night, while Victory will attempt to quickly turn things around against Wellington on Wednesday. Perth play their first game since February 5 when they host Brisbane on Friday.