Jets stun Phoenix, Roar on top
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Serbian striker Milos Trifunovic scored on his debut as the Newcastle Jets stunned the Wellington Phoenix 2-1 in the Australian A-League.
Newcastle, last season's bottom side, had only won twice at Wellington's Westpac Stadium before Sunday's clash and went into their season-opening match as massive underdogs. They were under enormous pressure for much of the match but were able to withstand the Wellington attack to score an unlikely victory.
Newcastle opened the scoring after 30 minutes when David Carney headed in from a cross from Korea Republic's Lee Kije. The Jets looked like taking the lead into the break until Roly Bonevacia steered the ball through a mass of Jets defenders with the last action of the first half.
The Phoenix dominated the second period and should have gone ahead just after the restart when they were awarded a penalty, but Fiji striker Roy Krishna's spot kick was saved by Jets keeper Mark Birighitti. The Phoenix continued to press, but with 20 minutes to go Carney turned provider with a pinpoint cross to Trifunovic, who tapped in.
Three-time champions Brisbane Roar sit on top of the table following their 3-1 away win over Western Sydney Wanderers. Newly-signed striker Jamie Maclaren netted twice and defender Daniel Bowles headed in from a corner to cancel out Mitch Nichols' strike for the home side.
The win gave Roar coach John Aloisi his first win since taking over at Brisbane and came after an off-season of turmoil for the club, which has been beset by a raft of financial problems. Aloisi said the off-field woes had actually worked to bring the Roar closer together.
He also said he wanted Brisbane to continue to play the dynamic attacking style which brought them three titles in four years. "We still want to be able to control the game a little bit more, we didn't do that enough tonight," he said. "But I think that we can also hurt teams on the counter if we have to, and we did that in the second half."
Defending champions Melbourne Victory began their campaign with a 0-0 draw with Adelaide United at Adelaide Oval. Last season's runners-up Sydney FC also opened with a draw when they shared the spoils with Melbourne City at home. Central Coast Mariners got their season off to a winning start on Saturday when they saw off Perth Glory 3-2 at home in Gosford.