Ten unforgettable games throughout the 2020/21 A-League season a-league.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from a-league.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After overseeing Central Coast Mariners' third-successive finish on the bottom of the A-League table, Alen Stajcic set out in search of players capable of driving cultural change to thrust into his leadership group for the 2020/21 campaign.
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Central Coast Mariners striker Matt Simon scored the Goal of Matchweek 15 against Western Sydney Wanderers, gathering an incisive through pass from Marco Ureña to chip Daniel Margush and find the back of the net.
The Mariners got off to the perfect start in Parramatta as Simon put them ahead with the neatest of finishes.
Ureña dribbled off the right flank, driving through space toward a central location outside the box. But the Costa Rican slid his pass in the opposite direction, catching the Red and Black napping and finding Simon in space on the edge of the box.
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24 goals hit the back of the net across seven fixtures in Matchweek 10, as Central Coast Mariners moved four points clear at the top of the table.
Western United and Melbourne Victory contributed seven of those goals in a 4-3 affair on Saturday night, after Adelaide United beat Western Sydney Wanderers 3-2 and Perth Glory clinched a 3-1 win over Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
Macarthur FC striker Matt Derbyshire went ahead in the Golden Boot race with his seventh goal of the season in the Bulls 1-0 win over Sydney FC, but a brace to Jamie Maclaren in Melbourne City s 2-0 win over the Wanderers sent the Socceroos striker level with Derbyshire at the top of the charts.
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Fireworks are guaranteed in the final A-League match of 2020 as the Newcastle Jets make the short trip to face to face bitter F3 Derby rivals, the Central Coast Mariners, on New Year s Eve.
The arrival of Costa Rica FIFA World Cup star Marco Ureña and the return of former Mariners junior Oliver Bozanic will have boosted the Yellow and Navy faithful s hopes of seeing Alen Stajcic s side climb out of the A-League doldrums and avoid a fourth straight wooden spoon in 2020/21.
The embattled Jets have suffered a turbulent off-season while searching for new ownership and, following the sudden departure of head coach Carl Robinson to Western Sydney, former Westfield W-League coach Craig Deans has stepped into interim duties with a threadbare squad.