sports
Victory pile more misery onto hapless Mariners
Defending champions Melbourne Victory stayed in the A-League title hunt with a comfortable 2-0 win over the hapless Central Coast Mariners today.
Kevin Muscat's Victory, fresh from a mid-week 1-1 draw in the AFC Champions League against Gamba Osaka in Japan, notched up goals from their leading scorer Besart Berisha and from Fahid Ben Khalfallah.
It was Berisha's 15th goal of the campaign and helped end a five-match A-league winless run.
Victory's win lifted them to fifth place, just two points adrift of local rivals Melbourne City.
Bottom club Mariners were not helped by playing a man down for most of the second half after Mickey Neill was red-carded for a tackle on Jai Ingham.
Adelaide United are the new A-League leaders after extending their unbeaten run to a record-breaking 14 matches following a 4-0 win over Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand yesterday.
The Reds leapfrogged Western Sydney Wanderers to the top of the standings with goals from Dylan McGowan, Stefan Mauk, Bruce Djite and Spaniard Pablo Sanchez.
The Wanderers crashed to a 3-2 away defeat to Brisbane Roar, who netted twice in as many minutes for the come-from-behind win on Friday.
Jamie Maclaren scored a double and Dimitri Petratos also found the net to complete the dramatic comeback.
Uruguayan marksman Bruno Fornaroli claimed a hat-trick as Melbourne City beat Sydney FC 3-0 at home yesterday.
Fornaroli netted once in the first half and twice in the second to take his season tally to a record 20 goals and keep City's top-two hopes alive.
Perth Glory can jump Sydney FC into the playoff spots if they beat the Newcastle Jets at home tomorrow. – AFP, March 6, 2016.
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