A-League wrap: Leaders win, Phoenix break Heart

A brace to Costa Rican striker Jean Carlos Solorzano helped the Brisbane Roar to a 3-2 win over the hapless Perth Glory at Suncorp Stadium.

The win moved the Roar six points clear of second-placed Adelaide United at the top of the A-League standings ahead of their away clash with the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, although Adelaide do have two games in hand on the Roar.

Solorzano opened the scoring for the hosts four minutes before half-time and defender Matthew Smith doubled their lead after 58 minutes when he powered home a header.

The Glory pulled one back through a Robbie Fowler penalty before Scott Neville was sent off for a second yellow card with 15 minutes left and Solorzano stepped up to slam home the resulting spot kick.

The visitors would not lie down, however, and a stunning long-range strike from Adrian Pellegrino made it 3-2 with seven minutes to play. But the Roar hung on for a deserved victory as Perth defender Josh Mitchell was shown a red card just before full-time.

For the Glory, it was their 11th loss from their past 13 A-League matches, leaving them third from bottom ahead of their away clash with the bottom-placed North Queensland Fury on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Wellington Phoenix went some way to silencing their critics with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Melbourne Heart.

Paul Ifill scored twice in the space of 11 minutes in the second half to lift the Phoenix to their first win at Westpac Stadium since September 24.

In Wednesday’s third A-League match, a Sasho Petrovski goal in injury time gave the Newcastle Jets a thrilling 1-1 draw with the Central Coast Mariners.

The Jets dominated possession and territory in the first half but could not break down a determined Mariners defence, and when Matt Simon broke the deadlock in the 49th minute with a fine right-foot shot it appeared the visitors had the momentum and the game in their keeping.

But the home side never gave up and Petrovski, who came on in 68th minute, poked home the equaliser deep into injury time in a goal-mouth scramble following a corner.