Central Coast Mariners, Western Sydney Wanderers play controversial clash, Newcastle Jets beat Adelaide United
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The Video Assistant Referee has again been a focal point as the Western Sydney Wanderers recorded a 2-0 win over nine-man Central Coast Mariners after the Jets beat Adelaide United.
Check out all of Saturday's round 11 A-League action.
Wanderers beat Mariners, but VAR looms largest
Western Sydney and under-fire coach Josep Gombau have emerged from the depths of A-League despair, claiming a first win in 10 games over nine-man Central Coast.
But Saturday night's improved performance was blighted by yet more contentious use of the video assistant referee (VAR), which prompted referee Alex King to upgrade two second-half yellow cards to reds for the Mariners' Wout Brama and Jake McGing.
The Wanderers' response in Gosford was lively and Brendon Santalab the star of the 2-0 show, complementing his first goal of the season with an assist for Alvaro Cejudo to end the club's six goalless hours of football.
After the selection bombshells of last week's Sydney derby disaster, all eyes were fixed on Gombau's latest team sheet.
Michael Thwaite, Raul Llorente and Jumpei Kusukami were recalled, this time at the expense of Kearyn Baccus and Robbie Cornthwaite, the captain omitted for missing a training session.
Santalab, handed his first start ahead of benched Oriol Riera, threw himself about and made his presence known in the box, unlucky to miss Josh Risdon's cross.
It did not matter. By the 27th minute, Santalab had reason to celebrate — and the finish was worth the wait.
Mark Bridge outran — then out-weaved — three defenders before picking out Santalab.
From 20 metres out, he took two settling touches and swung his right boot through with such vigour that Ben Kennedy's diving effort was ineffectual.
The Mariners were made to work hard but, under pressure, penetrated their visitors' high press in an agonisingly close chance.
Andrew Hoole pinged the ball to McGing, the right-back floating a cross towards Danny De Silva at the back post, only for Vedran Janjetovic to get the slightest of diverting touches just in time.
A few minutes later, Janjetovic made another vital intervention, this time an outstretched leap to deny a speculative Connor Pain.
Central Coast was far from disgraced and threatened on the counter-attack, but Western Sydney made its opportunities count.
Nineteen-year-old Keanu Baccus, preferred by Gombau in holding midfield over older brother Kearyn, burst free and gifted an excellent ball to Santalab, whose square slice allowed Cejudo to drive home.
By the time De Silva had bent the ball narrowly wide of the side netting, the Mariners were getting frustrated.
But nothing compared to Paul Okon's fury at the VAR.
The home coach shrieked "who's up there?" when — after Brama was yellow carded for scraping Roly Bonevacia's calf — a review led to referee Alex King changing his decision to red.
The 78th minute brought an identical episode, although the protagonists had changed.
McGing was shown yellow for a sliding challenge on Baccus senior, before a review resulted in an upgrade to red, triggering an explosion from the Mariners' bench as strength and conditioning coach Balder Berckmans was given his marching orders.
Late penalty gives Jets win over Reds
A contentious late penalty has helped Newcastle tighten its grip on second spot in the A-League as it scored a 2-1 home win over Adelaide United.
Dimi Petratos converted the 89th-minute spot kick awarded after his shot cannoned off Ersan Gulum and hit the arm of Ryan Strain.
Referee Stephen Lucas had his decision confirmed by the VAR on Saturday but it incensed the visitors, with Isaias and Vince Lia booked and assistant coach Filip Tapalovic shown a red card.
The win strengthened the Jets' grip on second spot, pushing them four points clear of Melbourne City and nine ahead of Adelaide United, who started the round in fourth.
In the 55th minute, in-form Jets striker Andrew Nabbout made it six goals from the past seven games when he rifled the the ball home from what would have been an offside position had Lia not inadvertently poked the ball into his path.
The lead lasted just 12 minutes as Adelaide equalised through George Blackwood, who finished well from close range following a cross by Michael Marrone.
Three minutes later, Marrone almost gave the visitors the lead but had his shot blocked by Jets goalkeeper Glen Moss.
Nabbout's goal was one of the few clear-cut chances in the first hour in which the usually potent Jets struggled to impress in temperatures nudging 30 degrees Celsius.
The first half produced just one shot on target, when Moss saved a shot from Nathan Konstandopoulos, and Adelaide enjoyed a slight edge in possession and territory.
Bookings far exceeded goals in the first half, with the Jets' John Koutroumbis and Petratos and Adelaide's Gulum getting yellow cards.
Newcastle looked more lively in the second half and maintained their record of scoring in every game this season.
AAP
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Topics: a-league, soccer, sport, gosford-2250, newcastle-2300, sydney-2000, australia, nsw, adelaide-5000, sa
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