Former Premiers Perth Glory won convincingly against Melbourne City, to push themselves off the foot of the table, while Adelaide United might just be the best of the rest at the moment with their skinny win over Newcastle Jets.

The pressure will be mounting on Melbourne Victory and their coach Marco Kurz, who are now 10th after the loss to Western United – and 11th-placed Central Coast Mariners are just one point behind them with two games in hand.

Markus Babbel could also be facing the heat if results don’t improve following their fourth straight defeat, this time to Wellington Phoenix, and a tricky away trip to Perth ahead of them this weekend.

Here is a look at five standout performances from round nine of the A-League.

Bruno Fornaroli

Returning back to the city he once called home, Fornaroli gave a harsh reminder to the Melbourne City fans of what the Uruguayan is capable of on his day.

The 175cm tall forward somehow beat the giant Harrison Delbridge in the air to give Perth the lead that they would never relinquish. Delbridge isn’t the only one who should be disappointed, with goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis failing to come off his line to claim the ball.

Following the game, Fornaroli told Fox Sports that he always had a feeling he would do something a bit special at AAMI Park, but also thanked the Melbourne City fans for the kind reaction he received when he was eventually subbed off.

His muted celebration after the goal was a sign of just how fond he is of his time there.

El Tuna’s goal came at a crucial time for Perth, who were at the bottom of the table before the match, and Fornaroli’s goal could be the push that last season’s Premiers required to kickstart their season.

Jaushua Sotirio

It seems like scoring against former teams was a bit of a trend this week, as ex-Western Sydney winger Jaushua Sotirio showed the finishing quality he’s lacked in previous seasons to lift his new team, Wellington Phoenix.

The goal was an absolute treat to watch with everyone involved playing their part to perfection. It starts with an accurate goal kick from Stefan Marinovic to David Ball, who flicks the airborne ball beyond him and into space for Sotirio.

The forward then lobs it over the stranded Daniel Lopar, who could only watch as the ball sailed into the net.

Sotirio has certainly improved since joining Wellington under Ufuk Tulay, with his movement off the ball and finishing quality A-League watchers have rarely seen consistently.

It’s now up to the 24 year old to show that he can perform like this every match rather than just in flashes like has he before.

Adam Le Fondre

Considering that Le Fondre has been scoring goals for fun ever since he moved to Sydney, it’s a bit of a surprise that he only scored his first hat-trick in the league on Saturday.

It’s been a while been celebratory drinks outside the A-League too, with the Englishman recalls his last hat-trick came six years ago when he was still with Reading.

To make it even sweeter, Le Fondre made it a perfect hat-trick with him scoring with his left and right foot as well as a header.

His trio of goals skyrocketed him up the golden boot ladder too, surpassing Jamie Maclaren, as the Englishman added his 10th goal for the season to his name to put him in top spot.

Partnering with Kosta Barbarouses, Sydney’s dual threat has not hurt each other’s scoring numbers, but instead has aided it with the New Zealander setting up three goals even if he did not get on the sheet.

Sydney now have so many threats, it makes them impossible to mark – and as a result, Le Fondre may not be waiting so long for another A-League hat-trick to toast.

Besart Berisha

Continuing the trend of players scoring against former clubs is Besart Berisha, who netted a brace to once again down his former club.

Berisha is just one of those players that will also manage to find a way to get himself involved in a big match, and it only took him 17 minutes this time around, as he thundered a header from Connor Pain’s cross.

Next it was Josh Risdon who serviced the cross to find Berisha in behind and the forward dutifully nodded the ball in to put Victory down 3-1 in the first half and sealed his old side's fate.

Berisha’s goals will lift United from the slump of consecutive losses after an encouraging start to the season. However, his goals might also be the reason new Victory boss Marco Kurz faces intense pressure to solve the issues that currently find them 10th in the table.

Al Hassan Toure

He’s had a quiet few weeks after that blitz start to the season, but Toure found his best form to put opponents Jets on the backfoot, with him setting up the goal for Adelaide’s first.

Newcastle hardly found a solution to Toure’s dribbling ability and quick feet as he drove past John Koutroumbis on the touchline to then square the ball for George Blackwood who had an empty net to aim at.

Toure was a constant thorn in the Jets defence as he looked to isolate himself and then use his superior speed to get beyond them, and there were a few times where some better decision making would have put the game beyond doubt.

Gertjan Verbeek’s decision to entrust not only Toure, but also Louis D’Arrigo, and provide them regular game time, should not go unnoticed as he has clearly unearthed a few Australian gems that we perhaps might not have seen otherwise.

Both the teenagers renewed their contracts for three years this week, and they repaid that trust with a couple of excellent performances to take the three points facing Newcastle.