A-Leagues football returns to Central Coast Stadium for the first time since December 18 as a double header in Gosford headlines the proceedings on Sunday, January 23.
The Sunday live feed is broken into game-by-game coverage, with all the goals, highlights, up to date scores and biggest talking points of the day brought to you under each relevant sub-heading as the action unfolds.
- Central Coast Mariners 1-0 Melbourne City
Isuzu UTE A-League, Central Coast Stadium – FULL TIME - Perth Glory 1-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
Liberty A-League, Central Coast Stadium – FULL-TIME - Brisbane Roar 1-3 Adelaide United
Isuzu UTE A-League, Moreton Daily Stadium – FULL TIME
ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: BRISBANE ROAR 1-3 ADELAIDE UNITED
MATCH REPORT: ROAR 1-3 REDS
Brisbane Roar took the lead early, but Adelaide United stormed home to put three past the hosts and take all three points from Moreton Daily Stadium.
Craig Goodwin scored two with Stefan Mauk adding a third from the spot as the Reds won out in testing conditions against a Roar outfit glued to the foot of the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
GOAL! Icing on the cake for Reds and Goodwin (8.33pm AEDT)
It was an assured, confident finish by Goodwin with the celebration to match as Adelaide put the icing on an excellent performance at Moreton Daily Stadium.
Behind by one goal to nil after two minutes, a pair of spot kicks helped Adelaide turn that deficit into a 2-1 lead, before Goodwin added a third to the scoresheet.
Goodwin received the ball out wide, feinted a left-footed shot and cut onto his right, nestling the ball into the bottom right corner.
GOAL! Mauk steps up to convert second Reds penalty (8.00pm AEDT)
A clumsy challenge from Matti Steinmann on Ryan Kitto in Adelaide’s attacking penalty area gave referee Borrero the simple decision to hand Adelaide a second spot kick of the night at Moreton Daily Stadium.
A more surprising decision, however, was Goodwin’s choice to hand duties over to captain Stefan Mauk. Sharing the load proved a good choice for the Reds as Mauk slotted his penalty home with ease. From a goal down, the Reds find themselves 2-1 ahead early in the second half.
SECOND HALF UNDERWAY: Reds, Roar level after entertaining first half (7.50pm AEDT)
Adelaide enjoyed the bulk of chances in the first half at Moreton Daily Stadium, but Roar forward Mileusnic could have made the visitors pay down the other end with two opportunities to add to his opening goal struck in the second minute of play.
Watch the first-half highlights below.
PENALTY! VAR overcalls Borrero decision, hands Reds spot kick (7.10pm AEDT)
A Scott Neville handball initially seen as an offence made outside the box by referee Borrero has been overturned by VAR.
Neville handled a deflected Bernardo Oliveira strike on the wrong side of the 18-yard line for the Roar, and Craig Goodwin happily put the responsibility to convert the spot kick on his shoulders.
After receiving his Socceroos recall on Friday night, Goodwin slotted the penalty past Macklin Freke with ease, and the Reds have tied things up at 1-1.
GOAL! Lightning start for Roar (6.48pm AEDT)
Brisbane Roar have punished a sleeping Adelaide outfit, with Jay O’Shea playing Nikola Mileusnic in to finish with just two minutes on the clock.
Reds keeper Joe Gauci was almost caught on in the opening minute with a long-range O’Shea shot. It was a sign of things to come as the hosts broke the deadlock soon after.
Kick-off! Moreton Daily Stadium the setting for Isuzu UTE A-League clash (6.45pm AEDT)
The Reds are in Brisbane looking to climb into the top six with a win over the last-placed Roar at Moreton Daily Stadium.
Referee Jonathan Borrero blows the whistle, and we’re underway!
TEAM NEWS
LIBERTY A-LEAGUE: PERTH GLORY 1-0 WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS
MATCH REPORT: GLORY 1-0 WANDERERS
FULL-TIME: Perth hold firm to take all three points (8:40pm AEDT)
A magnificent goal from de la Harpe was the difference in an impressive Perth Glory victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.
It’s a third win for the season by the Glory, which keeps Alex Epakis’ side in top four contention.
GOAL! Perth pull ahead through de la Harpe SCORCHER (8.00pm AEDT)
Deborah-Anne de la Harpe has handed Perth a worthy lead three minutes into the second half, placing a free-kick from a tight angle on the left wing into the top-right corner of Langman’s goal.
It was a perfectly-struck set piece from the defender who succeeded where Lisa De Vanna and Sofia Sakalis failed in the first half in beating the Wanderers keeper – although it took a finish of some magnitude to do so.
SECOND HALF UNDERWAY: All Glory in attack, but no goals in Gosford (7.33pm AEDT)
Wanderers defender Alexandra Huynh told Paramount+ Perth were “hammering” her side through the first half; but a lick of paint on the crossbar and Sarah Langman’s magnificent goalkeeping kept Western Sydney in the contest as the two sides venture into the break lockeda t 0-0.
Glory tightening the clamps as De Vanna gets busy (7.15pm AEDT)
Matildas legend Lisa De Vanna is helping her Perth Glory outfit get a strong foothold in their contest with the Wanderers at Central Coast Stadium.
De Vanna and Sofia Sakalis are the busiest Glory forwards after almost half an hour of play, forcing the Wanderers backline into repeat defensive actions.
A magnificent Sarah Langman save on the 30-minute mark saw Perth’s best chance of the first half to date somehow denied, with a powerful Mie Leth Jans header pushed onto the crossbar by the Wanderers’ keeper.
KICK-OFF: Glory, Wanderers in action in Gosford (6.45pm AEDT)
It’s the second of two A-Leagues fixtures taking place at Central Coast Stadium today, as Perth ‘host’ the Wanderers at the Gosford venue in the Liberty A-League.
The Wanderers have pressed the under-siege Glory defence early but Alex Epakis’ side has held firm early on.
TEAM NEWS
ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: MARINERS 1-3 CITY FULL-TIME (6.00PM AEDT)
REPORT: CHAMPIONS TOO GOOD FOR MARINERS IN 3-1 WIN
Melbourne City have returned to winning ways, fighting off a brief Mariners comeback to defeat the hosts 3-1 at Central Coast Stadium.
After falling one goal behind the Mariners drew level through Marco Ureña, but a dominant second half saw City score another two through Andrew Nabbout and debutant Carl Jenkinson, who netted his first top-flight goal in nearly five years.
Watch the highlights of the game below.
GOAL! Dream debut for Jenkinson (5.50pm AEDT)
Melbourne City are 3-1 ahead of the mariners at Central Coast Stadium after Jenkinson’s debut strike less than 20 minutes into his Isuzu UTE A-League debut.
A Berenguer corner was headed toward the danger area by Maclaren, and after Mathew Leckie squandered the chance to tuck the ball home himself, the rebound fell to Jenkinson to convert.
Clutch Birighitti save keeps Mariners in it (5.45pm AEDT)
Aiden O’Neill unleashed a vicious first-time volley from a cleared City corner – but Birighitti was up to the task of keeping the perfectly-struck attempt on goal from piercing his guard.
O’Neill read the drop of Jacob Farrell’s clearing header and hammered his volleyed attempt back toward the Mariners’ goal, only for Birighitti to tip the ball over the bar and away as City attacked through a number of quick-fire corner deliveries.
Carl Jenkinson debuts for City (5.30pm AEDT)
On loan from English Championship side Nottingham Forest, defender Carl Jenkinson has replaced Kerryn Stokes to make his Isuzu UTE A-League debut in City colours.
The former England international who most notably played for both Arsenal and West Ham is just 29 years of age, and should have plenty to give Patrick Kisnorbo’s side along his six-month loan from his parent club.
‘It’s a delightful delivery, it’s an assured finish’ – Berenguer to Nabbout a slick City move to make it 2-1 (5.20pm AEDT)
How about that for a piece of attacking City play?
Florin Berenguer – who has had a busy afternoon in City’s midfield thus far – notched his first assist of the season with a whipped, in-swinging delivery off his right foot from the tip of the 18-yard-box toward the far post, where Andrew Nabbout steamed in to meet the ball.
The first-time volley from close range off his side foot was perfectly placed past the body of Mariners keeper Birighitti as the visitors restored their lead in Gosford.
Play resumes at Central Coast Stadium (5.10pm AEDT)
There’s 45 minutes to play in a tight fixture between two sides locked at one goal apiece at Central Coast Stadium.
The Mariners were comprehensively outplayed for large portions of that first half – but all that matter are the goals on the board – and Nick Montgomery’s side have matched Melbourne City in that key department.
It’s been an entertaining start to the half with both sides receiving early chances to break the deadlock, with Jordan Bos failing to latch on to a cross whipped to the back post before City keeper Tom Glover got off his line to quickly smother a Moresche shot in a promising one-on-one situation down the other end.
GOAL! Ureña’s individual class shines through (4.45pm AEDT)
A moment of individual brilliance from Marco Ureña has hauled the Mariners back into the contest at Central Coast Stadium. Receiving the ball on the right wing, Ureña stood up fill-in City centre back Aiden O’Neill, cutting to his right before opening up the space on his left foot to curl a strike off his wrong foot into the bottom-left corner of goal.
City have dominated early proceedings in Gosford but have seen their lead vanish as the two sides travel toward the break locked at 1-1.
Nkololo lashes first genuine Mariners chance off side netting (4.45pm AEDT)
Béni N’Kololo has gone almost unsighted through the first half, but the Frenchman almost had a telling say on the contest after floating down the left wing to latch onto a pass from Oli Bozanic in the penalty area.
Nkololo struck first-time with his left foot from a tight angle, past the wrong side of the post and into the side netting.
In the minutes after the Nkololo chance, City threatened the Mariners on the counter. Marco Tilio set Jamie Maclaren up for a shot on his left foot which was saved from point-blank range by Mark Birighitti, before Andrew Nabbout sent a curling strike past the left post.
GOAL! Maclaren pounces to net his fifth of the season (4.24pm AEDT)
A carving run from Jordan Bos off the left wing and into the box has set Jamie Maclaren up to fire City into a 1-0 lead in Gosford.
Bos drove into the box past a number of Mariners chasers to put his initial shot on target, which was spilled by Mariners keeper Mark Birighitti directly into the path of Maclaren who buried the ball into the back of the net.
Kick-off in Gosford (4.12pm AEDT)
Melbourne City get us underway at Central Coast Stadium. The visitors have had the bulk of possession through the opening few minutes of play, with 19-year-old Jordan Box seeing plenty of the ball in his first ever Isuzu UTE A-League start.
City’s Marco Tilio, called up to the Socceroos squad for the very first time on Friday, takes the first shot on goal of the game, slicing the ball just wide of the mark.
The teams are in as countdown to kick-off continues (3.45pm AEDT)
Ruon Tongyik is back in the Central Coast starting XI to reform the Mariners’ first-choice combination in central defence from 2020/21 alongside Kye Rowles.
Dan Hall, Lewis Miller, Josh Nisbet, Garang Kuol and Nicolai Muller all miss out due to COVID.
In the City camp, English recruit Carl Jenkinson features on the bench after his arrival at the club this week. Both Nuno Reis and captain Scott Jamieson are missing through suspension, meaning Jamie Maclaren dons the armband this afternoon.
