The numbers that matter
Golden Boot race
The big winners of Round 24
Aurelio Vidmar and Melbourne City have come good at the perfect time and now have one foot in the finals after losses for Wellington Phoenix and Macarthur FC helped them extend their gap from the chasing pack to four points with two rounds to play.
They couldn't produce a clean sheet to save themselves across February-March and the fatigue of juggling continental football with their ailing domestic campaign was costing them dearly, but the board's faith in Vidmar has paid off with a five-game winless run (W4, D1) that includes three clean sheets, as many as they had produced in their prior 13 A-League matches.
As you'll see below in our press conference summary, Vidmar told reporters after the match that the additional pressure of City being in must-win situations has brought out the best in the on-field and support group, which is the perfect mindset to take into a finals bracket that begins in just three weeks.
Three wins in eight days has been a big boost to their title credentials, even though all three games took place at AAMI Park against teams either already or almost out of contention for the top six, but their defensive shape has looked excellent with a full-strength back four.
With Aziz Behich and Marcus Younis doing magical things on either flank, and their back third in good order, the race for the toilet seat certainly includes the recently crowned 2025/26 Club Championship winners.
The big losers of Round 24
It almost goes without saying that Macarthur FC and Wellington Phoenix share this unwanted title for this week now that their finals qualification hopes are out of their hands.
Both managers Sterjovski and Greenacre mentioned the dreaded 'mathematical chance', with the latter admitting that a team's chances are almost certainly done once it gets into that territory, particularly given that Melbourne City don't appear likely to lose to both Brisbane Roar (away) and Adelaide United (home) in their final two games.
To their credit, the Phoenix have done well to go this deep into the season after a sudden change of management, and interim boss Chris Greenacre appears to have done enough to finally earn himself the permanent gig.
Macarthur were hopeful that the huge recruit of Socceroo Mitch Duke in January would have propelled them into the top-six, but the fact that Duke is the team's third-leading goalscorer after just 11 appearances is a damning indication of their lack of firepower elsewhere, particularly as his teammate Harry Sawyer was in Golden Boot contention earlier in the campaign.
The Bulls are now 13 games without a clean sheet since a New Year's Day win over the Wanderers - 15 if you include continental football - and face the difficult task of having to win in Adelaide next weekend among other things.
Team of the Week
Read more about our Round 24 Team of the Week here.
Goal of the Week
What the managers said
Airton Andrioli (Adelaide United): "I thought it was a really good game tonight. The pleasing thing is there were two good teams trying to play good football. It was a great spectacle and I really enjoyed the match. It was such a great game of football but I'm probably going to walk away with a bitter taste in my mouth again that the VAR is destroying our game ... For me, it's ruining the game of football. I think the referees on the pitch are doing a great job but the technology is hindering our game and taking it backwards."
Aurelio Vidmar (Melbourne City): "I thought it was a real solid performance. It was never going to be an easy game because of the physical nature of the team, especially the two players up front, Eze and Piper. I thought Sammy (Souprayen) and German (Ferreyra) were incredible in dealing with them tonight. The team as a whole worked really well and we deserved the win despite some hairy moments that we dealt with in a real professional manner."
Michael Valkanis (Brisbane Roar): "I think we should have finished off the game in the first half and not given them that opportunity to have that 10-15 minute period where they got on top of us. I was disappointed with the start of the second half because we spoke about it at half-time. It's part of the Central Coast DNA that they were going to come out more physical and with more intensity to get into the game and we had lapses of concentration that cost us. Two shots on goal, two goals conceded. That has sort of been the story of our season."
Read more post-match comments from all 12 managers here.
Next weekend's fixtures
It's the penultimate round of the regular season, so Macarthur, Wellington and Central Coast could all be on their last chances.
