Marco Rojas is mobbed by his Victory teammates after scoring the first of his two goals against Newcastle Jets. Source: Getty Images
TWO extraordinary Marco Rojas goals saved Melbourne Victory from itself last night as it beat a spirited Newcastle Jets 3-2 at AAMI Park in Melbourne to close in on the A-League top two.
The Victory squandered a two-goal lead and total first-half dominance as the Jets fought back to level at 2-2 with 17 minutes left.
But just 60 seconds after Emile Heskey's equaliser, New Zealander Rojas produced a goal of freakish skill, controlling a ball that rebounded towards him in the box, spinning and volleying for a winner befitting a pulsating match.
After league leaders Central Coast and second-placed Adelaide United lost this week, the Victory has now climbed to outright third - just two points adrift of the Reds.
The Victory looked in total control going into half-time, with a first 45 minutes oozing with magic and menace that would have made the Mariners and Reds as uncomfortable as it did the Jets.
Rojas, who had been dangerous on the left, launched a stunning strike on 33 minutes for the opener. His unstoppable 20m strike with the outside of his right foot bent away from Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Birighitti at warp speed to find the net.
Rojas then teamed with the excellent Billy Celeski to present Archie Thompson an easy finish for Victory's second just before the half-time whistle.
But Victory's first half of magic was followed by a second half of illusion.
The Jets kept working hard, and winger James Virgili forced Victory's makeshift centre-half Leigh Broxham - who was outstanding all night - to make a vital clearance off the line early in the second half. Then skipper Ruben Zadkovich belted a 25m strike past Victory keeper Nathan Coe in the 64th minute to give the Jets a lift.
When Heskey took advantage of some dithering Victory defence on 73 minutes, the Jets were back in business, before Rojas donned his cape.
Newcastle had a great chance to equalise with just two minutes left, but Coe made a superb save of substitute Adam Taggart's shot.
Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou was agitated that referee Kris Griffiths-Jones had not noticed his team trying to make a substitution in the breakdown of play prior to Newcastle's opening goal.
Postecoglou wanted to replace midfielder Jonathan Bru, who failed to get across to cover Zadkovich and was struggling.
"I assume they spend a lot of money on miking officials up, unless they're listening to music with those things," Postecoglou said.
"I was pretty disappointed the message didn't get across."
But Postecoglou believes his side is steadily improving and developing, though he admitted he could do with less excitement in their games.
"Teams keep saying they want to make their home ground a fortress. Ours has become an amusement park - thrills every week," he quipped. "But there's plenty to be positive about. We're becoming a really, really dangerous team."
The Jets slid out of the top six for the first time, but coach Gary Van Egmond remained upbeat with the performance in defeat.
"We still held our own and in the second half we thought if we scored first, we were definitely back in the contest," he said.
AAP
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