Football
Pamela Whaley 4y

ACL teams bag points on A-League return

Asian Champions League contenders have all returned to bag competition points in round 20 of the A-League, but only Sydney FC have scored a win over the weekend.

The Sky Blues were pushed to their limits against Central Coast on Sunday evening in Gosford with players overcoming fatigue, cramping and minimal preparation to eventually nail a 3-0 win.

It was the perfect way to bounce back for Steve Corica's men, who were thumped 4-0 just four days prior by J-League champions Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.

Perth and Melbourne Victory also suffered ACL losses this week, but returned to Australia to each score 1-1 draws in the A-League.

The Glory are second on the ladder after their draw with Brisbane, while Victory remain in ninth spot after an identical outcome on Saturday against Newcastle.

After Sunday's win over the Mariners, Corica said the ACL loss was a wake-up call for his players as they prepared for the derby against Western Sydney.

"(The players were) very disappointed. We went there to win the game. We thought we could win the game there," he said.

"It was a bit of a wake-up call for us, I think."

Still, they managed to extend their lead at the top of the ladder to 13 above the Glory with an incredible 43 competition points.

Western Sydney captain Mitch Duke scored twice as the Wanderers ended a seven-game home drought on Friday night with a 5-2 win over Adelaide.

Irish striker Simon Cox scored his first home goal for the Wanderers who revived their finals hopes and kicked them into seventh place on the ladder.

The Wanderers opened the scoring but soon trailed 2-1.

They scored three goals to lead 4-2 at the end of an extraordinary first half which produced 25 shots - 19 of them from the hosts.

A win could have put Adelaide as high as second at the end of the weekend, but they slipped to fifth behind Perth, Melbourne City and Wellington.

Elsewhere, Western United will end February without scoring a goal with just one win from their past eight games after a 2-0 loss to the Phoenix.

Wellington are equal second on the ladder with the Glory and City with 30 points.

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