A-League: Mariners return to summit after late turnaround, Melbourne City lose again

Alou Kuol's late brace secured a dramatic turnaround that lifted Central Coast Mariners back to the A-League summit with a 3-2 win over Western United in Gosford.

United took a 2-1 lead in the break thanks to goals from Tomislav Uskok and Besart Berisha, either side of Matt Simon's 16th-minute equaliser in an entertaining first half.

For a while that deficit remained intact and United appeared to be closing in on only a second win of the season.

But Kuol was introduced from the bench with an hour played and he made a fine impact, first equalising in the 77th minute as he turned in Daniel De Silva's corner, before then getting the winner soon after with a diving header.

.@AlouKuol collecting the #POTG after completely turning the game around #CCMvWUN #ALeague #CCMFC pic.twitter.com/DLByNzrAWJ

— A-League (@ALeague) February 7, 2021

There was no such delight for Melbourne City, however, rather despair as last season's grand finalists suffered a third successive A-League loss, this time to Newcastle Jets.

The only goal of the game arrived just before half-time, when Valentino Yuel converted from close range for his fourth goal in five games.

.@NewcastleJetsFC survive some late pressure to claim a big three points at home.#NEWvMCY #ALeague #NeverTearUsApart #NTUA pic.twitter.com/9iVUGfhgD1

— A-League (@ALeague) February 7, 2021