Second strike sticks for Jet Yuel

Valentino Yuel’s solitary goal has condemned Melbourne City to a third straight defeat.

Melbourne City players look despondent after Valentino Yuel’s goal for Newcastle Jets Picture: Getty Images

Valentino Yuel’s solitary goal has condemned Melbourne City to a third straight defeat as the Newcastle Jets snared all three points at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The former Western United striker’s goal in the opening half was the difference as City failed to stem its dismal run of form.

After a tense opening half-hour, Newcastle thought it had the opener when Jason Hoffman’s deflected effort was headed home by Yuel.

However, the linesman had his flag up after Roy O’Donovan came from an off-side position when he interfered in Tom Glover’s attempt to save the ball.

Just over 10 minutes later, Yuel wouldn’t be denied, capitalising on Angus Thurgate’s header off the woodwork to tap home the opener.

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Straight after the break, the Jets were on the front foot again as Hoffman had the ball in the net but again were denied by the assistant referee.

City finally broke a resolute Jets defence as Adrian Luna intercepted Connor O’Toole and was two-on-one with the goalkeeper but his pass to Jamie Maclaren was crucially broken up by Jets keeper Jack Duncan.

With time expiring, Luna again had a great chance to equalise but his back-post header was saved by Duncan.

The Jets’ stubborn defence saw them through as they were able to hang on for their second win of the season.

Yuel is one of the many talents emerging from the National Premier League.

Months after being released by Western United, the 26-year-old forward has taken his opportunity at the Jets with both hands scoring his fourth goal of the season and was unlucky not to have had more.

Yuel, along with Brisbane’s Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Central Coast’s Alou Koul all emerged from the NPL and now find themselves nestled at the top of the A-League’s Golden Boot race.

Hoffman may not be the flashiest player to have graced the A-League. However, in his 150th game for Newcastle Jets he was integral in helping his team over the line against his former side.

Hoffman put in a tireless performance on the right-hand side and was on hand to assist the Jets opener while creating numerous chances for the Newcastle attack.

Newcastle Jets coach Craig Deans was pleased with his side’s attitude and effort.

“Similar to the Wellington game we didn’t play the best football we had all year but unless you are at the ground and understand the wind factor it’s very hard to get it out of your own half,” Deans said.

“The way we defended for 90 minutes was very good and we had a bit of luck on our side but we had chances to score too.”

The Patrick Kisnorbo era at Melbourne City has not gotten off to an ideal start. In the past three defeats, City has been leaky in defence, conceding seven goals and has lacked cutting edge going forward.

However, despite the loss Kisnorbo believes his side was the better of the two and can take a lot of positives out of the game.

“I think they responded really well from last game,” Kisnorbo said. “We spoke about it after the game and they responded really well today … we created enough chances to win the game.

“I thought we dominated the game and we had enough chances to score which is a positive but at the end of the day four or five might go in but today they didn’t.”

In Sunday’s late game, Alou Kuol exacted revenge on Melbourne United, 12 months after he debuted in a 6-2 defeat against the club.

Kuol scored a late double leading the Central Coast Mariners to a come-from-behind win in Gosford. Kuol changed the trajectory of the contest with his two headers sending the Mariners back to the top of the league.

Trailing 2-1, the Mariners’ push for an equaliser was rewarded in the 77th minute when Kuol headed the ball past United keeper Filip Kurto. Minutes later, Kuol nodded home Dan Bouman’s cross.