Sydney FC held on to claim a 2-1 win at Newcastle Jets to increase their unbeaten run to 10 A-League matches and open up a 12-point lead at the summit.

Steve Corica's men have only dropped points in two matches this season and continued their wonderful run of form at rock-bottom Newcastle, though the defending champions made hard work of the victory.

Adam Le Fondre opened the scoring with his 13th goal in as many games this season, rounding off a lovely move, only for Jets to peg Sydney back through Steven Ugarkovic's gorgeous 25-yard strike into the top-right corner.

Kosta Barbarouses restored the visitors' lead in the 36th minute when tucking away Milos Ninkovic's cut-back and that proved decisive, though Newcastle did pile the pressure on in the second half, with Abdiel Arroyo striking the crossbar.

Victory leaves Sydney in fine shape at the A-League summit with 34 points, a dozen more than Melbourne City – who face Brisbane Roar on Saturday.

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games unbeaten for @SydneyFC, who were forced to work hard for the three points at @MJStadium.#NEWvSYD #ALeague pic.twitter.com/MSarMd2arr

— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) January 10, 2020