A-League wide as ever at halfway point

The A-League heads into next week’s mid-season break a wide open affair after Gold Coast pulled back ground on frontrunners Sydney FC and Melbourne.

Miron Bleiberg’s men bounced back to form with a 1-0 win over Sydney at Skilled Park on Saturday night, as the Victory suffered a shock 4-0 loss to the Central Coast Mariners at Etihad Stadium.

Those results left Sydney (25 points) holding a one-point lead atop the competition ahead of the Victory (24), with United (23) a further point back.

With Newcastle returning to form with a 2-0 win over North Queensland on Sunday and Brisbane snaring their first win under Ange Postecoglou against Adelaide on Friday night, only 10 points separates the entire field after fourteen rounds.

That has even teams towards the bottom of the ladder believing they are still title contenders.

“It’s a very close competition, I don’t really think there’s standout teams,” Jets coach Branko Culina said after his side’s win at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

“There are teams that have better form than others and that will be a telling point for the rest of the year, but all the other teams are capable of beating each other.

“We are better than where we are currently placed … as you can see, everyone can beat everyone.”

Bleiberg was equally positive after the Gold Coast’s return to form, fearing Sydney could have run away with the minor premiership race had they beaten his side.

“It was good for the A-League,” Bleiberg said.

“We go to the break and it as close as ever.

“Could you imagine if Melbourne lost and (if) we lost and Sydney would have won?

“At least on paper, it would have been a one-horse race which is not the case now, so everybody is happy and everybody’s excited.”

The Mariners (20) stayed in touch with the competition leaders while Perth (18) and Wellington (17) round out the top six after playing out a 1-1 draw at Westpac Stadium on Sunday.

Brisbane, Adelaide and the Jets all sit on 16 points, while North Queensland (15) are last but still only two points outside the top six.

There are no matches scheduled for next weekend’s international break, with Australia facing Oman in an Asian Cup qualifier and New Zealand taking on Bahrain for a spot at the World Cup.

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