Gold Coast reclaims top spot
Gold Coast has confirmed its status as top dog of the Hyundai A-League after a 2-1 win over Sydney FC helped the new franchise secure top spot after five rounds.
A brace from Kiwi sensation Shane Smeltz was enough to secure the win for United, which inflicted Sydney's first loss of the season despite Steve Corica's 75th-minute goal.
Smeltz first opened up the match in the shadows of half time, and his second - a brilliant solo effort - iced the game in the 56th minute for a Gold Coast side without talisman Jason Culina.
Sydney hit back with a late goal to Steve Corica and the home fans were given a scare when Bas Van Den Brink gave away a free kick in the dying moments, but John Aloisi's strike wasn't good enough to get around the gold wall of defenders.
The win moved Gold Coast to 12 points, two clear of Sydney which slips back to 10 points from five games.
Central Coast sits third on eight points after a terrible blunder by Perth goalkeeper Tando Velaphi saw the Mariners snatch a 2-1 victory over the Glory through Matt Simon's 89th-minute winner on Friday night.
The first Hyundai A-League match at Canberra Stadium appeared to be petering out to a 1-1 result before a tame Mariners' attack was transformed into a goal through Velaphi's error.
Earlier, Alex Wilkinson had given the Mariners a 1-0 lead on 42 minutes before Mile Sterjovski equalised on 82 minutes. Simon then found himself in the right place at the right time as Velaphi looked on in despair after an inexplicable error let the home side in.
The other three matches ended in draws, with Melbourne continuing its spluttering start to the season, after Archie Thompson scored a goal in the 42nd minute before Labinot Haliti, playing his first match in his latest stint for the Jets, secured an equaliser in the 86th minute.
The Jets now move to eight points as well, while Melbourne sits in seventh with five points.
Ahead of them sits the Glory, as well as the Roar who managed a draw with North Queensland in Townsville.
Robbie Fowler gave the Fury a seventh-minute lead before Mitch Nichols deflected a Sergio Van Dijk shot in to score a late goal which earned the Roar a point.
The weekend's other match saw Wellington take an early lead against Adelaide thanks to a 35th-minute goal to Paul Ifill. But the Reds equalised through Iain Fyfe just before half-time and took a share of the points and now sit level with Melbourne and the Phoenix but three points head of the Fury, who remain on the bottom of the table.