We cast our eye over some interesting statistics and identify where it is being won and lost following round four.
We cast our eye over some interesting statistics and identify where it is being won and lost following round four.
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 - 1 Adelaide United
Wanderers striker Tomi Juric came back to haunt his former club, netting a second half brace in Western Sydney-s 2-1 comeback win over Adelaide. Juric displayed the kind of form that has many predicting he-ll be selected in the Socceroos squad for the upcoming international against Costa Rica. The Reds again dominated possession, controlling two-thirds of the ball with an impressive 87% passing accuracy. Unfortunately they failed to convert this to clear cut chances, with the Wanderers having twice as many shots on target. Adelaide had conceded ten goals against the Tony Popovic-s men in their last two outings so the result was a vast improvement, however they have now won only one of their past 11 games on the road. The Wanderers frontmen will need to watch their offsides, being caught out on seven occasions but they-ll be happy to bank the three points which extends their unbeaten regular season run to 17 matches.
Perth Glory 1 - 0 Sydney FC
It was the failure of the sideline official to raise his flag that was the talking point in this one, with a missed offside call leading to Glory being awarded what proved to be a decisive penalty. The Sky Blues will be disappointed to come away from Perth empty handed as they had more possession, nearly three times as many shots on target and nine corners to one compared to their opposition. The Glory put pave to the fact they-d only claimed the three points in one of their last eleven outings against Sydney FC and just as pleasing for coach Alistair Edwards will be the three cleansheets his side have kept in a row. With the Glory set to welcome former French international William Gallas to their side, Perth may yet have the best defense in the league, after conceding three goals to Adelaide United in the opening round. Sydney FC coach Frank Farina will be looking to take as many positives as he can, with his injury depleted squad managing 25% more final third entries and superior passing accuracy.
Newcastle Jets 2 - 2 Central Coast Mariners
The Jets will be thankful their scoring hoodoo is over but will be disappointed not to get maximum points from the first F3 derby of the season, after letting a two goal lead slip. Newcastle hadn-t managed a goal in over seven hours of league football but certainly weren-t shy of shooting, outnumbering the Mariners with shots on goal 14 -9. Central Coast dominated possession and certainly finished the match the stronger but were let down by a couple of bad defensive lapses. They continue to have the league-s best passing completion rate, picking out a teammate over 80% of the time. Newcastle extended their home record to just three losses from their past 13 clashes at Hunter Stadium. With the side set to welcome back striker Emile Heskey from injury, they will take a lot of confidence from their performance against the champions into this weekend-s fixture.
Brisbane Roar 3 - 0 Melbourne Heart
It was as expected at Suncorp Stadium with Mike Mulvey-s Roar continuing to impress, while the Heart-s dismal away form continued. The Roar dominated possession with 58% of the ball and while John Aloisi-s men managed to get more shots away (14/11) they only put three of them on target to the Roar-s seven. The inability to trouble their opponents goal is becoming a worry at the Heart with a shooting accuracy of 32.4% being the worst in the league as they sit bottom of the Hyundai A-League ladder. It is a different tale for Brisbane who have put over 70% of their shots on target, an area of the game that the Roar comfortably leads in the competition. Henrique led his team with four shots that led to his two goals while Matt McKay was strong in midfield with 82 touches and 60 passes.
Melbourne Victory 3 - 2 Wellington Phoenix
A James Troisi brace saw the Victory claim all three points in Kevin Muscat-s head coaching debut, following Ange Postecoglou-s departure. The home side got away to a brilliant start putting three goals on the Phoenix in the opening 31 minutes before the Nix made it interesting as they got within a goal with a little under ten minutes remaining. As the scoreline suggested Muscat-s side led in terms of shots on target (5 -1) in the first half but as a whole the match was extremely even. The Phoenix had 16 shots on goal to the home side-s 14, aerial duels were a 50/50 split and both sides completed just over 80% of their passes. An intriguing stat line saw the Phoenix have the better of the possession in the first half (51/49%) while conceding three goals, while the Victory had more of the ball in the second half (57/43%) as they conceded two goals. Mark Milligan was again influential in the navy blue with a game high 89 touches and 66 passes, while goal scorers James Troisi and Jeremy Brockie had the most shots on goal with four each.