Sydney FC are undoubtedly the strongest team as they defeated Adelaide United at home, while Melbourne City continued their chase by defeating Western United in a dramatic match where they almost surrendered their three-goal advantage.

Wellington Phoenix join City in the chase at the top as they handled the challenge of Central Coast Mariners. Melbourne Victory are making a belated dash with their convincing victory against the league’s punching bag Newcastle Jets. Western Sydney Wanderers’ plight continues at the bottom following their loss at home to Brisbane Roar.

Here are the five best players from Round 13 of the A-League.

Mirza Muratovic

Veteran striker Roy O’Donovan has been dropped in recent weeks leading to plenty of talk about whether he might be past it, but not enough about his 19-year-old replacement who has looked every bit of a quality player in his past two matches.

He might not have gotten on the score sheet but against Western Sydney on New Year’s Day he showed that this is definitely the level he belongs in.

The teenager’s movement continued to pull the Wanderers defence out of position and his understanding with his own teammates was what helped produce the winner as he exchanged a one-two with Brad Inman who then fired a low drive into the back of the net.

As a former striker himself, Robbie Fowler will hopefully have a very good understanding of what Muratovic needs to continue to develop, and that might even mean that O’Donovan could sit out a few weeks longer yet.

Craig Noone

Last week against Sydney FC, I was especially critical of Noone’s performance, so it was inevitable that he would suddenly prove himself to be the top-quality player we all thought he was after his displays in the FFA Cup.

Finally, against Western United, Noone came alive as he ran laps around the opposition defence to help his team storm to a 3-0 lead at half-time. He produced a beautiful chipped ball behind the defence to get Luna into an easy scoring position for City’s second goal.

It’s been hard to figure out what might Noone’s best position be as he shifts between the left and right flank, but after Friday night, most would certainly be leaning towards the right-hand side where he can cut back in to get on his stronger left foot.

The question will now be whether the Englishman can maintain this form for a few more weeks or whether we will only continue to see these types of performances in spurts rather than for an extended period of time.

David Ball

Wellington enjoyed the second start of Gary Hooper who once again got himself on the scoresheet, but it was his partner in crime, David Ball, that really ran the show.

Ball has shown all the signs of a top quality striker with his physical strength helping him hold up the ball, his vision to find through balls for his teammate and his own quality finishing all on display against the Mariners.

His hard work was dutifully rewarded with a goal, though there is some confusion with the FFA officially ruling it to teammate Ulises Davila. Whether or not the Mexican got a touch on it, it was Ball’s clear finishing ability that produced the opportunity from a difficult angle.

There will be some concern as he went off injured in the second half with there clearly being a muscle pulled or something strained. Hopefully the injury is nothing too serious so that we can enjoy Phoenix at full strength with Hooper and Ball leading the line.

Paulo Retre

It seems right that after just confirming a two year contract extension a few days earlier, Retre scored his first brace in his career for Sydney.

Retre has previously talked about the difficulty of being a utility player who is only put into the squad to plug one gap or another. Following the win versus Adelaide, Retre said that it can be difficult to adjust to different positions every week.

“I think it’s more mentally tough to get your head around and it’s not always easy chopping and changing. It’s more so mentally than actual technically,” he said.

 Now, with a consistent spot as a midfielder partner for Luke Brattan, the 26-year-old has been given a platform to shine.

His brace came from simply being in the right position at the right time and there’s a good chance we won’t see plenty more goals from Retre, but they are still a testament to how Retre has adapted well into the Sydney system.

Robbie Kruse

Robbie Kruse produced a vintage display as he wreaked havoc against the Jets defence in the centre forward position with Ola Toivonen suspended.

It might be something that Kurz could experiment with a while longer as on the basis of this display, Kruse showed just how dangerous he can be when he is made the centre of Victory’s attacks. His movement was magnificent as he drifted in between the lines while also darting in behind when the timing was right.

Newcastle coach Ernie Merrick had no answers on how he could possibly contain the Socceroo star.

Kruse opened the scoring as he latched on to a long through ball from Leigh Broxham, controlling it with a soft touch from his forehead to then sweep it between the legs of Jets keeper Glen Moss.

The forward was directly involved in the second and third goals too with his vision and outstanding quality just a level above anything the Jets could offer.