The numbers that matter
The big winners of Round 12 were...
Mark Milligan's Newcastle Jets, who continue to go from strength to strength. Their confidence appears to have shot through the roof since defeating current Championship favourites twice in Auckland twice in seven rounds.
That accounts for two of their five wins in that period (W5, L2) as well as clean sheets against Sydney FC and Melbourne City, the former of whom are amongst the most prolific goalscorers of the season to date.
Little was expected of this youthful squad led by 40-year-old first-time head coach Mark Milligan at the start of the season, but Milligan has instilled values in his players of working hard for one another, being brave in difficult situations, and has recently turned his focus towards the importance of clean sheets.
Under Milligan, the club has entered uncharted waters, stringing together four consecutive away wins for the first time in their 20-year history, including three trips to New Zealand - which is never easy.
The big losers of Round 12 were...
Brisbane Roar after they held 61% of possession against Auckland on home turf and couldn't create a single clear cut chance from their 13 shot attempts.
Michael Valkanis' side played four games in ten days and lost three of them, beating only the Central Coast Mariners who are by far and away the weakest team in the competition on paper.
Valkanis didn't want to make excuses but felt it was very reasonable to make the case that the Roar have suffered through the toughest draw of all teams in recent weeks, and whilst he's relieved they don't have to play any more midweek games (unforeseen circumstances like dodgy council-run pitches notwithstanding), Valkanis was most bemused by the team having to follow up their busy period with one of the longest away trips in the league - they're off on a six-hour flight to Perth this week to play the rampant Glory.
Brisbane are the second-worst goalscorers of the league and had a near-impenetrable defence earlier in the season to negate that dearth of goals with some hard-fought 1-0 wins against the Victory, Bulls and Reds, but the former table-toppers have lost an awful lot of momentum in the past month - and four of their last five matches.
Valkanis insists consistency will return to the team as rotations and workload management become less necessary, but with Newcastle overtaking them and Perth snapping at their heels, they're quickly falling away.
Team of the Week
Read more about our Team of the Week here.
Goal of the Week
What the managers said
Michael Valkanis (Brisbane Roar): "When you look at the first seven or eight games when we were virtually on top, we were unchanged and very consistent. Now you see a team that is fatigued and having to make changes. They're giving everything they have and that's what I've looked at. I never played four games in ten days."
Arthur Diles (Melbourne Victory): "The performance wasn't good enough. Tonight we weren't at our best. We probably didn't deserve to lose it in the end, but we didn't deserve to win it either."
Mile Sterjovski (Macarthur FC): "Definitely a disappointing performance. We didn't deserve any points tonight. It felt like we were second to everything. It was hard to take. I felt the challenge on Caceres should have been a red. I don't know how they got that wrong. Regardless of that we just didn't turn up."
Click here for a full summary of post-game comments from each head coach.
Next week's fixtures
There are a couple of tasty games next round between some clubs going in opposite directions, especially in Perth where Adam Griffiths' Glory are looking to continue their rise by taking three points off former ladder leaders Brisbane Roar, who are on the slide as a terribly busy schedule continues to bite.
