Apologies for the not so Heart related content but I thought this needed some discussion and urge any/all to add their views in the comments.

I don’t disagree with the idea of the All Star team, but I disagree with the execution in this case. What we have here is really an ‘All Australian’ (All A-League?) team that has been relabelled. The idea of an ‘All Australian’ team is to give the best players of the given season in their positions some recognition and exists in various sports at many levels.

However, they have labelled this an All Star team. Now, you would assume this is because calling it an ‘All Australian’ team doesn’t make sense as there is sure to be some overseas players in it, but the name conjures up something else and this is something I believe should be explored.

The A-League needs an All Star game. Whether it be mid season like the NBA or as a closer like the NFL’s pro-bowl it would show case some great talent and really add some extra excitement to the league. This can be run in various ways. I don’t think State of Origin (a la the NRL or even AFL’s old model) would work and East V West (a la NBA) would pretty much mean the Glory against everyone, so what about an International clash? Australia (or Aus/NZ) V The World – Australian born players with an Australian born coach face off against International born players with an International born coach and all fan voted.

How good would this be!?!? I don’t see it creating any divide; whilst we’d all get a little patriotic the nature of it as a showcase would provide some fun and a game people could get behind in a healthy way.

Where do you play? Well I don’t think fixed location (a la NFL pro-bowl) is right for it. Location could rotate by draw, a decided order or even say the title winners of said year host it?

With the A-League’s marketing department doing four fifths of five eighths of Sweet FA this is just one idea I strongly believe needs to be explored and could well over time become a highlight of the A-League season. Maybe I should bring this up at the upcoming FFDU Fan Forum? In the mean time you can cast your vote here until February 13, final match day of the regular season.

By Nathan Taddeo – Melbourne Heart Offside

In case you’ve been living under a rock you’ll know that in the 79th minute of the 32,000 plus attended game Kevin Muscat received a straight red (he was also already sitting on a yellow) for driving leg first at Adrian Zahras knees in what has been described as the worst tackle in A-League history. It caused the flipping of Zahra’s entire body and Muscat’s own lid once the ref produced the red. Yes, Muscat showed no remorse nor did he think he should as he gave the ref an earful and stormed to the sideline where he blessed himself before hitting the shower.

Since then Muscat’s offered different forms of apologies that have largely been shrugged off as empty gestures he’s only doing to attempt to lighten the penalty and clean up his character as he looks for an after football job. Very few have been fooled.

Initially the hearing was set for the Match Review Panel on Monday. We eagerly awaited the announcement but were only given longer to wait. The reason for this is the seriousness of the offence. The Match Review Panel can only allot a certain penalty before it had to move further… and this warranted further.

The discussions have been plentiful and varied in opinion. Some are claiming a ‘culture of violence’ at the club, some aren’t going as far but continue to bring up Muscat’s history. Others believe that a players history, especially in competitions other than the A-league, is entirely irrelevant and should not be bought in to consideration in this case. Personally, I think history has plenty to do with it. Mistimed or not there’s only so many times you can call something a coincidence if it’s the same player doing this sort of thing. I don’t think Victory have a violent culture and would never label them the A-Leagues Thugs before, so I won’t start to now. Muscat is a different story. Zahra has now joined Bellamy, Holmes, Dugarry and Henrique on a list of players who have been on the wrong end Muscat’s undeniably dirty activity on the football field. Seven years ago Muscat faced legal action after former Charlton player Matty Holmes sued him for $6 million over a tackle that left him with a badly broken leg, eventually settling for $600,000 in damages and legal costs. Muscat has always ‘played the game on the edge’ as he calls it but this tackle may have shown, in the most extreme way, that the A-League has past him and he should have retired after last season as originally intended.

So whether it was indeed a mistimed tackle or the well planned attack many argue it looked like it all came down to this tonight’s hearing and we have a decision; 8 weeks.

Fans and pundits alike often call for some consistency in how the A-League is being refereed with many hard tackles going un punished because that’s ‘the Australian way’ to certain refs while some softer tackles are over punished as the Match Review Panel tries to clean up the game. Let us know your thoughts below; has justice been achieved? Are Victory fans happy to be rid fo a liability or is this a sad day in the life of a navy legend? Has a precedent now been set or has Muscat been used as a scapegoat in a case of an extreme decision being made based on public outcry?

I will be travelling to Uruguay, and I seriously doubt I will be able to have proper access to the internet whilst I’m over there.

I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused anyone. But I will be back early next year and I will get straight back into updating the A-League Offside.

Also I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and I will see you all in the new year. Goodbye!

Edwin Lugt, the chief executive of Sydney FC (and coincidentally the one signing his team’s salary checks) is convinced that the A-League is overpaying their players. The average A-League player makes $135,000/year, hardly the kind of money that buys you a new Bentley every season, but also not breadcrumbs by most working people’s definition. Since it’s a bit unfair to compare the A-League to the Premier League or La Liga, the league that is most often held up as an example is MLS. Lugt points to this, and to the fact that MLS teams pay only an average of $89,000 / year.

As much as I’d like the question to come down to the inherent value of a professional doing their expert best, what it really comes down to is solvency, and that argues in favor of Lugt’s point. While the MLS is expanding and attendances growing in the US, the A-League is having serious financial difficulties. Sydney FC won the league last season, and still lost millions. If there’s any league in need of that overused buzzword – “austerity measures” – it’s this one. Should that all come out of the hides of the men on the pitch? Of course not. But is anyone, players included, served by teams going under? I think not.

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This post was brought to you by BetUS

A cartoon kangaroo, Mad Max and Prime Minister Julia Gillard joined sports stars, actors and indigenous Australians in selling the nation as a perfect destination for the football World Cup in 2022.

The presentation was the final chance for Australia to sway the FIFA delegates votes, and the entire bid team will hope they have done everything possible.

“As you know, I am a businessman and business is in my blood,” said Frank Lowy.

“I know a good investment when I see one.

“And I know that a World Cup in Australia in 2022 will be a fantastic investment by FIFA for the future of our game. Not just in financial terms, important as that is.

“But it will also pay off because of the growth in the number of people who will play and watch football in our region, in the future.

“Gentlemen, I began by telling you that as an immigrant to Australia, I was very warmly welcomed.

“I can assure you that if you take up our invitation to bring the FIFA World Cup to Australia then you, and the rest of the football world, will be very warmly welcomed too.

“You will be welcomed by perhaps the most multi-cultural society in the world. And that fact has great positive implications for the World Cup.

“Please, choose Australia and you will be in safe hands.”

Watch the presentation here:

And tomorrow morning at 2am AEST, we find out who will host the 2022 World Cup. It’s arguably going to be the biggest moment in Australian football history, one that will change football in Australia for ever.

I will be watching, along with many other Aussie football fans, and my excitement will be un-containable. This is just massive, and I really hope we get it.

On Friday night Adelaide defeated the Gold Coast United at Hindmarsh Stadium 2-1. Gold Coast player Bas van der Brink scored for Gold Coast just on the stroke of half-time, with a stunning strike from outside the area.

On Saturday it was Melbourne Victory who traveled to Wellington to face the Phoenix, and from that game we saw two brilliant goals.

After Archie Thompson had scored his 50th goal in the A-League, cancelling out Tim Brown’s goal just minutes before, Robbie Kruse put the Victory in front just before half time with a fantastic team goal.

At least 13 quick and sharp passes were exchanged between the Victory midfield before Carlos Hernandez played a smart chip over the Phoenix defence to Billy Celeski, who cut the ball back for Robbie Kruse who had an easy tap-in to cap off a great move by the Victory.

Phoenix pressured late, searching for the equalizer and they found it through Paul Ifill. And what a goal it was. He turned Victory defenders Vargas and Muscat inside out, before finishing brilliantly to earn Wellington a point.

All three goals were superb goals, but it was no match for Adrian Pellegrino’s effort against the Brisbane Roar during the week. The Glory were trailing 3-1 at the time, and Pellegrino let rip a thunderous strike from way outside the box that gave Roar keeper Michael Theoklitos no chance.

The goal is shown here , at 1:44.

Adelaide United made some ground on Brisbane with an important victory over another possible title contender, Gold Coast United, on Friday night.

Wellington Phoenix took on another Melbourne side after playing the Heart mid-week, earning a draw against the Victory at Westpac Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

In the other game on Saturday Melbourne Heart welcomed Sydney FC to AAMI Park, but the game turned out to be one of the dullest 0-0 draws the league has ever seen.

Top of the table Brisbane Roar traveled to Gosford to take on the Central Coast, and continued their dominance again with a thumping win over the Mariners.

And lastly in horrible conditions as always in Townsville, North Queensland Fury and the Perth Glory played out an action and controversy packed 1-1 draw.

Game One:

Adelaide United 2 (Reid 11′, Dodd 47′)
Gold Coast 1 (Van Den Brink 45′)
Crowd: 12, 005 at Hindmarsh Stadium

Adelaide United have maintained the pressure on Brisbane Roar at the top of the A-League ladder thanks to a 2-1 victory over Gold Coast on Friday night.

The Reds got off to a fantastic start with Reid scoring with just eleven minutes on the clock. Marcos Flores chipped the ball up over the Gold Coast defence and it was Reid who ran and smahed home the volley.

Just five minutes later Bruce Djite out-muscled Adelaide defender Robbie Cornthwaite and let off a shot, but his strike cannoned off the post denying the visitors an equalizer.

Adelaide dominated for the majority of the half, shutting down the Gold Coast at every attempt. But the visitors did grab an equalizer right on the stroke of half time.

Djite held the ball up well and teed up van der Brink who let off an absolute rocket that fired past Eugene Galekovic, a contender for goal of the season.

Despite Gold Coast grabbing a goal just before half-time Adelaide came out in the second half looking to get back in-front, and it only took two minutes to do so.

Ian Ramsey crossed the ball in from the left hand side and it fell perfectly for Travis Dodd who guided his header straight past Gold Coast keeper Scott Higgins.

The task got a whole lot harder for the Gold Coast when James Brown was sent off on the hour mark after receiving his second yellow card, and Adelaide held on to their lead earning a well deserved three points.

Game Two:

Wellington Phoenix 2 (Brown 18′, Ifill 84′)
Melbourne Victory 2 (Thompson 21′, Kruse 40′)
Crowd: 6,500 at Westpac Stadium

Wellington Phoenix rescued a point against the Melbourne Victory on Saturday afternoon with a late goal from Barbados international Paul Ifill.

The Phoenix opened the scoring in the 18th minute of the match through Tim Brown. A great passage of play between Bertos, Vince Lia and Hearfield ended with Brown volleying home.

Their lead was short lived though as Archie Thompson equalized just three minutes later with his first goal for the Victory since returning from injury. It was also his 50th goal in the A-League, the first ever play to do so.

Nearly twenty minutes later Melbourne took the lead. The Victory retained possession well, passing the ball around until Hernandez chipped the ball over the Phoenix defence to Billy Celeski who squared the ball to Robbie Kruse for the easiest of tap-ins.

Melbourne made a fatal error, deciding to sit back and defend rather than adding to their lead, which ultimately cost them in the end.

Phoenix put heaps of pressure on the Victory in the remaining fifteen minutes of the match, and were eventually rewarded when Paul Ifill struck a wonderful equalizer in the 84th minute.

He ran rings around Roddy Vargas and the Victory defence before firing home a brillant strike past Michael Petkovic ensuring the points would be shared.

Game Three:

Melbourne Heart 0
Sydney FC 0
Crowd: 5,128 at AAMI Park

Melbourne Heart missed the opportunity to consolidate their place in the top six on the ladder, with a rather miserable goalless draw against Sydney FC on Saturday night.

Only 5,128 fans showed up in rather terrible conditions to watch the Heart, and the performance by both teams was just about as bad as the weather.

Heart had seventeen shots to Sydney’s nine, but were un-able to convert any of their chances. A goal line clearance by Simon Colosimo and a superbly timed sliding tackle by Stuart Musialik were the only real highlights of the game.

Although John Aloisi and Mark Bridge both put the ball in the back of the net for Heart and Sydney respectively, but both were ruled out for offside.

Sydney defender Sung-Hwan Byun was sent off late in the match but it had no effect on the final result.

Game Four:

Central Coast Mariners 1 (Kwasnik 50′)
Brisbane Roar 5 (Solorzano 8′, 10′, Nichols 24′, Reinaldo 87′, Wilkinson 89′o.g.)
Crowd: 5,858 at Bluetongue Stadium.

Brisbane Roar have broken the record for most consecutive games un-beaten in the A-League with a thumping 5-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners in Gosford on Sunday afternoon.

Brisbane have now gone 14 matches without a loss, a longest ever by a Hyundai A-League team. The Roar were up 2-0 in the 10th minute and it seemed like the game was over then.

It took just 8 minutes for Brisbane to open the scoring at Bluetongue Stadium. Ivan Franjic whipped in a dangerous low cross from the right with Nichols hitting his shot straight at the Mariners keeper Matt Ryan, but Solorzano was in the right spot at the right time to tap home the rebound.

Only two minutes later and the Costa Rican had his second of the match. Thomas Broich made a great run before squaring the ball to Solorzano who let rip with a brilliant strike which rocketed into the bottom corner of the net.

Brisbane would go on to score a third and seemingly wrap up the three points in the 24th minute thanks to Mitch Nichols. Nichols played a well-worked one-two with Barbarouses before easily putting the ball past goalkeeper Ryan.

The Roar seemed to take their foot off the pedal after their third, and scored no more before half-time. Mariners manager Graham Arnold decided to shake things up a bit, bringing on strikers Daniel McBreen and Adam Kwasnik in hope of getting them back into the game in the second half.

One of his subs made an immediate impact. Alex Wilkinson played a ball over the top of the Brisbane defence and Kwasnik did brilliantly to pull one back just five minutes in to the second half.

Controversy surrounded the goal though, as Oliver Bozanic who was in an offside position seemed to deny Brisbane keeper Michael Theoklitos a chance to save the strike.

But it proved to just be a consolation goal as Brisbane added a fourth with three minutes remaining. Broich made a great run down the left flank, and his strike was parried by Matt Ryan but it fell just right for Reinaldo who tapped the ball in easily from close range.

Even with a comfortable lead Brisbane kept attacking looking for a fifth, and in the final minute of the game it came. Alex Wilkinson was the man to put the ball in his own net.

It got even worse for the Mariners though as Daniel McBreen stupidly got himself sent off in injury time after receiving a second yellow card meaning he will miss the Mariners clash against Sydney FC next week.

Game Five:

North Queensland Fury 1 (Hughes 80′)
Perth Glory 1 (Fowler 23′)
Crowd: 4491 at Dairy Farmers Stadium

North Queensland Fury have managed a 1-1 draw against nine-man Perth Glory in an extremely wet Townsville on Sunday evening.

Glory were down to nine men before the 64th minute, with Naum Sekulovski and Brent Griffiths both being sent off after receiving two yellow cards.

Former Liverpool star Robbie Fowler was in the mix of the action early, unlucky not to earn a penalty early on after seemingly being brought down in the box by Fury defender Mark Hughes.

‘God’ nearly opened the scoring though in the 10th minute of the game, but his shot over Justin Pasfield’s head went just over the crossbar.

But he did eventually open the scoring when he headed home from a Michael Baird cross in the 23rd minute to give the Glory a 1-0 lead against his former club.

Dyron Daal had a fantastic opportunity to equalize for the Fury in the first half when he was one-on-one with keeper Tando Velaphi but it only ended with his shot sailing over the top of the goal.

In the second half the Fury had a heap of chances to finally get on the score sheet, but time after time failed to convert. It took until the 80th minute for Mark Hughes to eventually bring North Queensland level with a great header.

The Fury had some more chances to find a winner late in the game, but the Glory held on for what they would describe as a very hard earned and lucky point.

Game 1:

Wellington Phoenix 2 (Ifill 62′, 74′)
Melbourne Heart 0
Stadium: Westpac Stadium
Crowd: 4,700

A second-half brace from Paul Ifill gifted Wellington Phoenix victory over the Melbourne Heart in the first game of Wednesday nights Hyundai A-League triple header.

Melbourne finished the game with 10 men when Matt Thompson was sent off either side of Paul Ifill’s goals. The Barbados International struck just two minutes after the hour mark and then grabbed his second 12 minutes later.

The first half saw a number chances created by either side, but the best chance fell to Heart player Alex Terra. He received a brilliant through ball from Adrian Zahra but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as he toe-poked the ball over the bar after being one-on-one with Phoenix keeper Mark Paston.

In the second half Brazilian Alex Terra had another one-on-one opportunity against Mark Paston after being played in by Gerald Sibon. He directed his shot on target but his effort was brilliantly saved by the Phoenix keeper.

Gerald Sibon then had an opportunity to open the scoring for the Heart, but his sneaky chip was saved by Paston and Alex Terra missed another good opportunity failing to capitalize on the rebound.

Paul Ifill then opened the scoring just after the hour mark when he pounced on a deflected pass from Vince Lia. Heart skipper Matt Thompson was sent off for a second bookable offence with 20 minutes remaining, and soon after Paul Ifill grabbed his second and all three points for the Phoenix.

It was a much needed win for the Phoenix, one which may kick-start their finals push and even derail the Hearts.

Game Two:

Newcastle Jets 1 (Petrovski 90+3)
Central Coast 1 (Simon 50′)
Stadium: Energy Australia Stadium
Crowd: 7,770

An injury time goal from Sasho Petrovski rescued the Newcastle Jets a point against the Central Coast Mariners in the F3 derby, the second of Wednesday night’s three games.

Matt Simon gave the Mariners the lead just after half-time, but they were denied the three points when Sasho Petrkovski chipped the ball over Matt Ryan which sent the Jets fans into raptures.

Newcastle dominated the game early, and could have taken the lead in the 9th minute through Francis Jeffers, but the former English International had to be subbed off later in the half.

The Jets continued to attack, but couldn’t convert any of their chances and both teams went into the break even.

Against the run of play it was the Mariners who took the lead just after half time. Matt Simon capitalized on a fortunate deflection before blasting his shot past Jets keeper Ben Kennedy.

After the goal it was still all Newcastle as they searched for an equalizer. Jobe Wheelhouse forced a great double-save from Mariners keeper Matt Ryan in the 76th minute, keeping them in front.

Three minutes after that the Mariners had a chance to seal all three points when Trent Salisbury played a great ball into the box but it was missed by both Bozanic and Kwansik.

Newcastle Jets never gave up and they were finally rewarded with a goal in the 93rd minute. Ben Kantarovski got his head to a long throw-in which was poorly cleared by the Mariners defence which allowed ex-Mariner played Sasho Petrovski to chip the ball over Matt Ryan and ensure the points would be shared.

Game Three:

Brisbane Roar 3 (Solorzano 41′ 73′ PG , Smith 57′)
Perth Glory 2 (Fowler 65′ PG, Pellegrino 83′)
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Crowd: 6836

Brisbane Roar have downed nine man Perth Glory 3-2 at Suncorp Stadium, the last of the three Wednesday games in the Hyundai A-League.

Jean Carlos Solorzano scored two goals either side of Matt Smith’s header, with Fowler and Pellegrino grabbing the goals for the Glory. The scoreline doesn’t reflect Brisbane’s dominant performance throughout the entire game, with Glory lucky to even score.

Brisbane dominated early and had a few half-chances on goal. A long range effort by Thomas Broich was the closest they got early in the game. Solorzano opened the scoring for the Roar in the 41st minute after his held off a challenge from Jamie Coyne and finished fantastically from an angle.

Roar then doubled their advantage in the 57th minute when Matt Smith leaped high in the air, and blasted home a header from a corner.

It then seemed as though Brisbane had the three points in the bag and were cruising towards another victory, but a handball in the box by Luke De Vere gave Glory a chance back into the game. Robbie Fowler stepped up and coolly converted the penalty minutes after coming on as a sub.

Just seven minutes later Brisbane had a penalty of their own when Scott Neville brought down Solorzano in the box. The Costa Rican stepped up and smashed home the penalty and restored the Roar’s two goal advantage.

But it didn’t last long as 10 minutes after that Pellegrino pulled one back again for the Glory. He picked up the ball outside the area and let rip with a rocket, which got the better of Brisbane keeper Michael Theoklitos.

Brisbane then had several chances in the remaining minutes to safely secure the three points, but they held on and extended their advantage at the top of the A-League ladder.

Australia as we all know is in the running to host the 2022 World Cup, along with the United States, Qatar, Japan and South Korea. In September 2007 the Football Federation of Australia announced that we would be bidding to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. But at the 2008 FIFA congress which was held in Sydney, FIFA President Sepp Blatter suggested Australia should concentrate on bidding for the 2022 World Cup instead.

It was kind of a no-brainer that one. It was impossible for Australia to win the 2018 World Cup, as it would have been the third World Cup in a row to be played outside of Europe. FIFA would have never let that happen.

So now, we are in the race to host the World Cup in 2022. The decision will be made on December 3 in Zurich. But we face some hefty competition from Qatar and the United States to host it.

Qatar are bidding to be the first ever Arab nation to host a FIFA World Cup. Qatar’s bid is based on promoting the bid as an Arab unity bid, and they hope to draw on support from the entire Arab world, and are positioning this as an opportunity to bridge the gap between the Arab and Western worlds.

President of FIFA Sepp Blatter endorsed the idea of having a World Cup in the Middle East, saying in April 2010, “The Arabic world deserves a World Cup. They have 22 countries and have not had any opportunity to organise the tournament.” Blatter also praised Qatar’s progress, “When I was first in Qatar there were 400,000 people here and now there are 1.6 million. In terms of infrastructure, when you are able to organise the Asian Games (in 2006) with more than 30 events for men and women, then that is not in question.”

Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed Bin Hammam has also thrown his weight behind the Qatar bid, by saying “I have one vote and, frankly speaking, I will vote for Qatar, but if Qatar is not in the running I will vote for another Asian country.”

Qatar have also proposed many large and modern stadiums that will capture the imagination of everyone. Also the first five proposed stadiums have been planned to employ cooling technology capable of reducing temperatures within the stadium by up to 20 degrees Celsius. This will help combat the only problem with the Qatar bid, and that is the extreme temperatures.

The other ‘major’ bidder for the 2022 World Cup is the United States of America. The U.S only hosted a World Cup 16 years ago, in 1994, but are bidding once again.

The United States, like Australia, initially were only bidding for the 2018 World Cup. But in January 2009 they decided to bid for both World Cups, and then in October 2010 announced they would be bidding only for the 2020 World Cup.

The U.S bid is apparently one of the strongest, with fantastic infrastructure and stadiums. U.S President Barack Obama is also behind the bid after he sent a letter to Sepp Blatter in April 2009 supporting the bid.

The other bids for the 2022 World Cup are from South Korea and Japan, but neither are favourites to get the rights to host the tournament.

The countdown continues until the announcement of the successful nations are made, and this blogger can not wait. It’s going to be a huge moment for Australian Football, and hopefully for the better. To see a World Cup in Australia is my dream, and in just 10 days we will all find out if that will become a reality.

Who would have thought that the bottom placed team would travel to the league leaders and come away with a point? Who would have predicted that the contest between Central Coast and Goal Coast would be a five-goal thriller? What about Melbourne Victory conceding an own goal for the second time in three games? Not many.

Game 1:

Melbourne Victory 2 (Vargas 62′, Hernandez 65′)
Central Coast 2 (McBreen 28′, Petkovic OG 78′)
Stadium: AAMI Park
Crowd: 9674

Melbourne Victory have continued their recent poor run of results, only managing a 2-2 draw against the Central Coast Mariners on Thursday night at AAMI Park.

Daniel McBreen opened the scoring for the Mariners in the 28th minute, against the run of play. Victory had dominated up until then creating several scoring opportunitites, but it was the Mariners who took the lead. Captain Alex Wilkinson played a long ball over the Victory defenders, and McBreen controlled well before placing the ball past Victory keeper Petkovic.

Melbourne went into the break down 1-0, but came out firing in the second half. Just over 15 minutes in and they got their due reward. The three defenders were all involved in the goal, with Muscat nodding the ball to Leijer who headed it to Vargas and he got the slightest of touches to put it in the net.

The Victory then went in-front just three minutes later with a brilliant free kick by Costa Rican midfielder Carlos Hernandez. Central Coast though didn’t give up and eventually rescued a point from the match, even though it was extremely lucky. A goal mouth scramble saw Grant Brebner trying to clear the ball off the line, but hit it straight into the legs of Michael Petkovic and ended up in the goal.

Game 2:

Melbourne Heart 0
Adelaide United 2 (Robert Cornthwaite 5′, Marcos Flores 73′)
Stadium: AAMI Park
Crowd: 6538

The second game in two days at AAMI Park saw the other Melbourne side the Heart take on second placed Adelaide United.

Adelaide played one of their best games of the season in a comfortable victory over the Heart. Robert Cornthwaite put the Reds into the lead in just the 13th minute with a great header from a free kick.

Marcos Flores then sealed the three points for Adelaide with a toe poke in the 73rd minute after a goal mouth scramble. It was the Reds first win in Melbourne since 2006.

Game 3:

Newcastle Jets 1 (Marko Jesic 55’)
Wellington Phoenix 0
Stadium: Energy Australia Stadium
Crowd: 12,147

One of the biggest crowds ever watched the Newcastle Jets play Wellington Pheonix on Saturday afternoon, and they were rewarded greatly with the Jets winning 1-0. The scoreline doesn’t compliment the Jets dominance of the game, one they should have won by much more.

Marko Jesic’s fantastic finish 10 minutes into the second half was the only goal of the game. But he and many other should have had more but poor finishing cost the Jets in the end.

The Jets drew 1-1 with the top of the table Brisbane mid-week, and have improved on that performance with a victory over the Phoenix. Wellington however have now lost four out of their past five games.

Game 4:

Brisbane Roar 1 (Ivan Franjic 85’)
North Queensland Fury 1 (Gareth Edds 9’)
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Crowd: 10,126

It was top vs bottom, and against everybody’s predictions it ended with the two teams sharing the points. Brisbane Roar have been the best team in the league this season, but an early goal to the Fury and their constant pressure in the midfield restricted the Roar from playing the Football they like to play.

Gareth Edds scored in just the 9th minute of the match to the suprise of everyone in the stadium. Franz Straka had set his team up beatifully, not letting Brisbane to settle on the ball.

Brisbane somehow though managed an equaliser with five minutes remaining through full-back Ivan Franjic. Amazingly though the Fury could have come away with the three points, but an incredible miss by Jason Spagnuolo denied them an opportunity to lead 2-0 at the time.

Game 5:

Sydney FC 2 (Shannon Cole 75’, Alex Brosque 81’)
Perth Glory 0
Stadium: Parramatta Stadium
Crowd: 6654

Sydney FC defeated Perth Glory 2-0 on Sunday afternoon to keep their hopes of a finals finish alive. The loss for Glory is now their 10th in the past 11 games.

Michael Baird almost opened the scoring in just the 1st minute, but was denied on the line by Sydney captain Terry McFlynn. From them on Sydney dominated the large majority of the match.

Perth held out for most of the game but couldn’t stop Shannon Cole from opening the scoring for Sydney in the 75th minute thanks to a great pass from Alex Brosque.

Brosque then turned from provider to scorer as he scored the second goal for Sydney in the 81st minute to seal all three points for the Sky Blues.

Game 6:

Central Coast Mariners 2 (Matt Simon 42’, Adam Kwasnik 71’)
Gold Coast United 3 (Dino Djulbic 45+1’, Steve Pantelidis 69’, Andrew Barisic 73’)
Stadium: Bluetongue Stadium
Crowd: 9732

In the battle of third vs fourth at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday evening, it was fourth placed Gold Coast United who came out on top in a five-goal thriller.

Matt Simon put the Mariners in the lead just three minutes before half-time, but Dino Djulbic grabbed an equaliser for Gold Coast in the first minute of added time.

Steve Pantelidis then gave the away team the lead in the 69th minute, but it was short lived as Adam Kwansik brought the Mariners back level just two minutes later.

But two minutes after that Andrew Barisic put the Gold Coast into the lead once again and the goal proved to be the winner for United with them picking up a crucial three points.

Hyundai A-League Ladder as of 22nd November 2010.

Hyundai A-League 2010/11 – Leading Goal-Scorers:

6 - Kosta BARBAROUSES, Bruno CAZARINE, Sergio VAN DIJK

5 – Alex BROSQUE, Robbie KRUSE, Robbie FOWLER

4 - Marcos FLORES, Iain FYFE, Chris GREENACRE, Paul IFILL, Mathew LECKIE, REINALDO, Gerald SIBON, Matt SIMON, David WILLIAMS

3 - John ALOISI, Leo BERTOS, Thomas BROICH, Tim BROWN, Shannon COLE, Jason CULINA, Bruce DJITE, Marko JESIC, Nick KALMAR, Adam KWASNIK, Mitch NICHOLS, Chris PAYNE, Iain RAMSAY, Mile STERJOVSKI, Jean Carlos SOLORANZO,

2 - Eli BABALJ, Dyron DAAL, Dino DJULBIC, Mate DUGANDZIC, Ivan FRANJIC, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, Chris GROSSMAN, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Mark HUGHES, Branko JELIC, Daniel MCBREEN, Kevin MUSCAT, Scott NEVILLE, Patricio PEREZ, Joel PORTER, Joshua ROSE, Shane SMELTZ, Alex TERRA, Patrick ZWAANSWIJK

1 - Michael BAIRD, Andrew BARISIC, Grant BREBNER, Michael BRIDGES, Jeremy BROCKIE, James BROWN, Leigh BROXHAM, Billy CELESKI, Isaka CERNAK, Robert CORNTHWAITE, John CURTIS, Luke DEVERE, Travis DODD, Gareth EDDS, Rhyan GRANT, Labinot HALITI, Jamie HARNWELL, Scott JAMIESON, Stephan KELLER, Matthew LEWIS, Terry MCFLYNN, Matt MCKAY, Daniel MULLEN, Massimo MURDOCCA, Erik PAARTALU, Steve PANTELIDIS, Tom PONDELJAK, RICARDINHO, Sean ROONEY, Ben SIGMUND, Matt SMITH, Eugene SSEPPUYA, Simon STOREY, Ufuk TALAY, Matt THOMPSON, Nikolai TOPOR STANLEY, Adama TRAORE, Rodrigo VARGAS, Rocky VISCONTE, Nick WARD, Alex WILKINSON, Rutger WORM, Adrian ZAHRA