Gold Coast closes in on Sydney

Gold Coast has reversed its hoodoo against Newcastle and put its title ambitions firmly back on track with a convincing 2-0 over the Jets at Skilled Park on Wednesday night.

Gold Coast has reversed its hoodoo against Newcastle and put its title ambitions firmly back on track with a convincing 2-0 over the Jets at Skilled Park on Wednesday night.

First-half goals from Jason Culina and debutant James Brown were enough to secure the points for the men in yellow whose goal was rarely threatened by the Jets.

Leap-frogging Melbourne into second place, Gold Coast's win puts it just two behind A-League table-topper Sydney (39 points) and sets up a blockbuster clash with the Sky Blues on Sunday.

A win over Vitezslav Lavicka's men will see United go to top spot for the first time since Round 11.

Looking to keep players fresh for Sunday's clash, Gold Coast made two changes to the starting line-up that drew 1-1 with Adelaide.

Joel Porter and Steve Fitzsimmons made way for new signing Dino Djulbic and in-form youth player Brown.

Newcastle, which has won five of its last six matches, made just one change to the side that downed Melbourne 3-2 on the weekend, Ali Abbas slotting in for suspended midfielder Ben Kantarovski.