Newcastle Jets 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 0: Jets blow away woeful Wanderers
The Wanderers appeared badly overmatched from the opening whistle and Dimitri Petratos had already seen a header ruled out for offside by the time Johnny Koutroumbis made the most of a backpedalling defence to pick out the bottom corner in the 11th minute.
Jason Hoffman was allowed to stride through a shambolic defence with an hour played to double the Jets' advantage before Western Sydney passed up a rare chance to get back onto the contest – substitute Oriel Riera slotting just wide from close range.
A double-save from Vedran Janjetovic in the Wanderers goal only briefly stemmed the tide as Ben Kantarovski made it three from Petratos' corner.
FULL TIME | Dominant. Destructive. Devastating.
What a win for @NewcastleJetsFC! #NEWvWSW #ALeague
Highlights: https://t.co/MEWwpKTh26 pic.twitter.com/b5F1qXed3I
— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) December 22, 2017
Newcastle saved the best until last when Steven Ugarkovic collected a backheel from the excellent Petratos and finished coolly.
Ernie Merrick's side are firmly on course to feature in the play-offs for the first time since they were A-League champions a decade ago, while the Wanderers are languishing third bottom with two wins to their name all season.