Newcastle Jets suffered a disappointing 4-0 loss to Melbourne City FC in front of a healthy crowd of 10,087 at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.
The Jets actually opened the better of the two sides and could have been ahead as early as the seventh minute.
Milos Trifunovic showed his class early with a clever back heel to put Enver Alivodic in on goal but had his shot smartly smothered by City’s no.1, Thomas Sørensen.
City struggled to find any fluency in the first thirty minutes, however the Jets were punished for their inability to capitalise on their early ascendency just before halftime.
It was Aaron Mooy who was on hand to deliver for Jon van’t Schip’s side, as he linked up with Ivan Franjic on the right and then struck it low and hard past Mark Birighitti to the far post on a tight angle to give them the lead heading into the break.
City came out an improved team in the second half, playing with the confidence that they have shown in the performances over the past fortnight. Indeed, Melbourne scored three goals in quick succession to put the result beyond doubt.
First, Ben Garuccio dispossessed David Carney on the half way line in the 56th minute and played Bruno Fornaroli through in space. The Uruguayan doubled City’s advantage, poking the ball beyond the onrushing Birighitti.
Only minutes later Franjic was able to link up with Mooy for the second time in the match, drilling a ball across the face of the Newcastle goal with the Jets’ backline helpless as Mooy secured his brace for the evening.
Fornaroli then capped off a disappointing spell for the Jets by scoring his second of the match as Mooy turned provider for the Uruguayan, making it 4-0 in the 62nd minute.
The Jets continued to search for some consolation out of the game with Leonardo and young substitute Ryan Kitto going close, but it wasn’t to be for Scott Miller’s side as they succumbed to their second straight defeat.
Newcastle Jets 0
Melbourne City FC 4 (Mooy 43’ & 59’, Fornaroli 56’ & 62’)
Venue: Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
Attendance: 10,087
Referee: Chris Beath
Newcastle Jets: 1. Mark Birighitti (Gk), 3. Jason Hoffman, 5. Ben Kantarovski, 6. Cameron Watson (24. Nicholas Cowburn 60’), 7. Enver Alivodic (28. Ryan Kitto 70’), 8. Mateo Poljak (C), 9. Milos Trifunovic, 10. Leonardo (27. Braedyn Crowley 78’), 13. Lee Ki-je, 22. Lachlan Jackson, 23. David Carney
Substitutes not used: 14. Mitch Cooper, 20. Ben Kennedy (Gk)
Yellow cards: Hoffman
Red cards: Nil
Melbourne City: 1. Thomas Sorensen (Gk), 4. Connor Chapman (19. Benjamin Garuccio 27’), 5. Ivan Franjic (10. Robbie Koren 69’), 6. Erik Paartalu, 8. Aaron Mooy, 9. Harry Novillo, 21. Stefan Mauk, 22. Jack Clisby, 23. Bruno Fornaroli, 24. Patrick Kisnorbo (C), 25. Jacob Melling (18. Paulo Retre 46’)
Substitutes not used: 15. David Williams, 20. Tando Velaphi (Gk)
Yellow cards: Paartalu
Red cards: Nil
