Marco
Rojas has sent Melbourne Victory to second on the A-League table with
a decisive role in Saturday's 2-0 win over Newcastle.
The
Kiwi winger transformed the contest with a deflected strike in the
52nd minute and a breakaway finish two minutes later.
Like
most of his Victory teammates, Rojas stuttered and was without polish
in a first half of missteps rather than memorable moments.
But
when Fahid Ben Khalfallah was brought down by acting Jets captain
Wayne Brown just outside the box early in the second half, Rojas
delivered from the set piece.
The
25-year-old's free kick deflected off defender Iain Fyfe and into the
net, leaving goalkeeper Jack Duncan cursing his luck.
Victory
are likely to dispute the awarding of the goal to Fyfe.
If
the opener had a touch of good fortune, the second was clinical
Rojas
seized on teenage defender Johnny Koutroumbis' loose ball, surging
forward to sidefoot home.
The
only Victory figure among 18,267 fans to seemingly be displeased was
Besart Berisha, who would have preferred a cross, and who turned his
back and walked towards the centre circle without acknowledging the
goalscorer.
But
the rest were delighted with a third-straight home win that has
Victory humming in the league.
Their
success was amplified given the tight history shared by two sides -
not since March 2013 had either club won this fixture by more than a
single goal.
There
was relief for coach Kevin Muscat too, who had to turn to his signing
of three days - Matthew Acton - in goal.
Acton
was given the gloves after a finger injury to Lawrence Thomas in
mid-week training, with second-choice gloveman Alastair Bray out with
a dislocated shoulder.
Despite
a hairy moment when he collected Devante Clut crudely outside the
box, the 24-year-old proved himself to be a worthy shotstopper,
assisted on 89 minutes with a clearance from James Donachie off the
line.
Jets
debutant Andy Brennan missed his side's two best chances - from a
one-on-one inside the first five minutes and from a cutback with 10
minutes remaining.
Despite
missing seven senior players, with Morten Nordstand departing at
halftime with a minor hip flexor issue, coach Mark Jones said they
were still upset to lose.
"We're
very disappointed to switch off for five, 10 minutes and that's
enough. You can't afford to do that," he said.
Victory
could count themselves unlucky not to win by a greater margin.
Berisha
produced a contender for miss of the season, sidefooting James
Troisi's cross wide from three metres with an empty net beckoning.
Until
Rojas' emergence, Troisi was the major creative force at AAMI Park,
taking 10 of Victory's 21 shots and setting up several others.
Muscat
said he was delighted to break through.
"The
difficult thing for us tonight was getting the first goal. It didn't
come off for us early and frustration built," he said.
"But
in the second half, we corrected things ... and what could have been
a dangerous game for us turned out to be a good night."
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