A multi-million paypacket will always raise people's expectations of you, and, as to be expected, the former Socceroo has been lambasted by fans and media alike for his sub-par performances in a sky-blue jersey - who could forget that miss at the tail end of last season?

But in a instant all Aloisi's woes seemed to dissolve - his opening goal against Fury on the weekend not only signalled a resurgence in form for his team, but, perhaps, a watershed for the man himself.

"It was good to get on the scoresheet but the most important thing was to win and win well," said Aloisi. "The boys stuck together this week because we could've easily gone downhill and start slipping."

The striker's sixth goal of the season, albeit a tap-in, may have just signalled that John Aloisi is back. And wouldn't Sydney fans welcome the news?

After three losses on the trot, Vitezslav Lavicka's men needed not only a convincing, but an near-perfect performance to back it up. And that they did. Over 90 minutes, the sky blues demolished the visitors with aplomb to keep in touch with Victory.

Elsewhere, Gold Coast United came from behind to beat the Mariners in the battle of the Coasts, Newcastle added to Adelaide's woes with a 2-0 victory, while the remaining four teams earned a point each.

Wellington Phoenix welcomed league-leaders Melbourne Victory across the ditch in the opening game of this week's round. Phoenix coach Ricki Herbert may have been forgiven for looking forward to the World Cup draw in South Africa hours later, but his team's immediate task was to propel themselves up the tabled.

Both teams spent the opening exchanges trying to assert their authority on the game, though the closest either side came to a goal inside the opening 15 minutes was when Phoenix captain Andrew Durante stuck a foot to deal with a dangerous cross only to see the ball fly towards his own goal before bouncing just wide of the right-hand upright.

Victory midfielder Nick Ward was the causality of the game late in the first half, having collected his second yellow card for a niggling foul, and sent from the pitch for an early shower.

Both teams continued to press in the second half, and it was the home side through Tim Brown's 57th minute header who took a well-deserved lead.

Four minutes later Paul Ifill, who had another commanding game, had an opportunity to put the game beyond doubt, but the much-celebrated import fired his shot over the crossbar.

Carlos Hernandez and Robbie Kruse combined well up the other end of the park for Victory, forcing a number of chances on goal, though neither was able to breach the Phoenix defence.

With the win looking like a certainty for the home side, Melbourne threw men forward in search of an equaliser, and it came by way of a Rody Vargas header from a Leigh Broxham's corner four minutes from time.

Wellington Phoenix                                          1 (Tim BROWN 57')
Melbourne Victory                                            1 (Rodrigo VARGAS 86')
Referee: Michael Hester
Crowd: 8,206

With things seemingly going from bad to worse this season for Adelaide United, Aurelio Vidmar's men were determined to put in a solid performance against visiting Newcastle Jets, who had enjoyed a mini-revival against Sydney FC the previous week.

Former Leeds striker Michael Bridge had signed on with the Jets mid-week for another two years, giving Branko Culina's playing stocks a much needed boost.

Things started ominously for the home side, however, when the Jets created an early opportunity on the end of a counter-attack through Jin-Hyung Song in the third minute.

Sixty seconds later, Sean Rooney's cross found Michael Bridges on the edge of the box though this time the form striker's shot was deflected away by Adelaide's defence.

The Reds' best first-half chance came in the 14th minute when Fabian Barbiero's cross found Cristiano, whose close-range shot slammed into Nikolai Topor-Stanley.

Topor-Stanley stumbled, almost forcing an own goal when the follow-up attempt from Travis Dodd just missed in a hectic few seconds of football.

Dodd nearly struck in the 22nd minute after receiving the ball from Cristiano who had deftly sidestepped Elrich, but Dodd's shot from inside the box was narrowly wide.

The Reds had numerous chances but couldn't make them count and they were made to pay by the Jets in first-half stoppage time when Thompson scored an opportunistic goal.

The Jets skipper seemingly came from nowhere - after Rooney had floated the ball to Labinot Haliti who couldn't quite connect - and found the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Adelaide had more chances early in the second half but couldn't convert and Cristiano, who with some Brazillian brilliance pickpocketed Ben Kantarovski and almost slotted one past outstretched Jets custodian Neil Young.

Dodd and Cassio had shots in the 65th and 66th minute but both hits were blocked by Young, as the Reds continued to attack and have plenty of the ball

The game was settled in the 80th minute, in unfortunate circumstances, when Reds defender Scott Jamieson was penalised for a handball in the Jets' box. Song calmly converted the penalty past Eugene Galekovic to give Newcastle an insurmountable two-goal advantage.

Adelaide United                                    0
Newcastle Jets                                     2 (Matt THOMPSON 45'+1, Jin-Hyung SONG 81')
Referee: Kevin Docherty
Crowd: 8,502

After enduring a thumping from Newcastle last week - their third loss in a row - Sydney FC must have pencilled in the visit by North Queensland Fury as the game to redeem themselves.

John Aloisi, enjoying a rare start, latched onto a Corica through-ball after 15 minutes and was clearly pumped to have broken his long-standing drought

Alex Brosque got the second five minutes later after he went to ground in the box, but instead of appealing for a penalty, he beautifully played the ball off the ground to score.

Vitezslav Lavicka's men produced champagne football at times, conjuring up images of their emphatic performance against Melbourne Victory back in October at Etihad Stadium.

North Queensland nearly pegged one back minutes later after some casual defending from Shannon Cole. Robbie Fowler almost beat Clint Bolton at his far post, but the chance went begging.

As the first half drew to a close the home side was in complete control, with Kisel almost untouchable with his relentless darting runs from the right flank.

Brosque then grabbed his second on the hour mark after some schoolboy defending when he ghosted to the near post unmarked and headed home past his former team-mate Pasfield.

Fury did manage to cut the deficit to two goals after Terry Cooke forced home a pinpoint free kick moments later but the three-goal cushion was soon restored after some more shambolic defending from the away team.

A quickly taken throw in from Sung-wan Hwan Byun saw Terry McFlynn lob a ball over into the path of Corica who defied his height to head home from six yards.

Sydney FC                                                       4 (John ALOISI 14', Alex BROSQUE 19'/58', Steve CORICA 64')
North Queensland Fury                                    1 (Rostyn GRIFFITHS 61')
Referee: Ben Williams
Crowd: 11,871

After disappointing performances last week, both Gold Coast United and Central Coast Mariners were looking to propel themselves up the A-league ladder, and grasp third spot.

A quickly taken corner for Central Coast saw Mariners goal talisman Matt Simon duck down past defender Kristian Rees to angle a header past Gold Coast goalkeeper Jess Vanstrattan in the 38th minute.

United equalised in the second half through Shane Smeltz in the 67th minute, the All-White heading home after Barisic out muscled Marines defender Brad Porter to deliver a pin-point cross into the box.

Gold Coast were unlucky not to score again when Smeltz was flagged offside in the 71st minute. A move started by Jason Culina saw the United Captain play in Barisic who hit his shot straight at Vukovic.

Zenon Caravella was then on hand to follow up, passing across to Smeltz who tapped home, but his celebration was cut-short by the linesman.

Second-half substitute Andrew Barisic secured all three points for United, tapping home in the 76th minute after Culina's breakaway shot was parried into his path.

Gold Coast United                                2 (Shane SMELTZ 68', Andrew BARISIC 76')
Central Coast Mariners                         1 (Matt SIMON 39')
Referee: Peter Green
Crowd: 4,117

After unexpectedly losing Charlie Miller through the week, a detracted Brisbane Roar outfit travelled to Perth looking to turn their season around.

But, aside from a netted effort by Henrique who was miles offside, the visitors fashioned very few chancesin the first half.

Perth enjoyed their best chance in the 17th minute as Naum Sekulovski whipped in a cross from the left, but striker Branko Jelic could only nod the ball against the bar from a good position, while Pellegrino's downward header from the rebound was clutched by McMaster.

Glory were made to pay for their missed opportunities seven minutes after the break as Brisbane opened the scoring against the run of play.

Once again, it was a counter-attack that unlocked Perth's defence as Jelic lost possession in the forward third leading to van Dijk earning a corner down the other end moments later.

Henrique's corner found Josh McCloughan at the far post and the defender nodded it down for DeVere to prod it home from a metre out.

Van Dijk appeared their most dangerous attacking outlet.

The Dutchman delivered a dangerous cross in the 56th minute that Tando Velaphi did well to punch away before coming within inches of scoring 10 minutes later when his bouncing, long-range attempt was denied by a furiously back-peddling Velaphi.

It was up to the Glory substitutes, though, to do the business and bring their team back into the game.

Twelve minutes from time Howarth sent in a well-flighted cross from the left, finding Pellegrino, whose knock-down header fell perfectly for Harnwell to score through a scuffed attempt that slipped under McMaster.

McMaster almost conceded the winner in the 84th minute when he again didn't take a regulation grab cleanly, his weak punch coming off Mile Sterjovski and almost going into goal.

Perth Glory                              1 (Jamie HARNWELL 78')
Brisbane Roar                          1 (Luke DEVERE 52')
Referee: Strebre Delovski
Crowd: 7,217

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 League Table

Hyundai A-League 2009/10 - Leading Goal-Scorers

12 - Shane SMELTZ

9 - Robbie FOWLER

8 - Archie THOMPSON, Sergio VAN DIJK

6 - Mark BRIDGE, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Paul IFILL, Matt SIMON

5 - John ALOISI, Alex BROSQUE, Chris GREENACRE, Branko JELIC, REINALDO, Mile STERJOVSKI

4 - Michael BRIDGES, Tim BROWN, Steve CORICA, Labinot HALITI, Victor SIKORA, Matt THOMPSON

3 - CRISTIANO, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, HENRIQUE, John HUTCHINSON, Daniel MCBREEN, Nik MRDJA, Lucas PANTELIS, Jin-Hyung SONG, Wayne SRHOJ

2 - Leo BERTOS, Pedj BOJIC, CASSIO, DANIEL CORTES, Jason CULINA, Dyron DAAL, Mate DUGANDZIC, Steven FITZSIMMONS, Jason HOFFMAN, Adam KWASNIK, Matthew LECKIE, Adrian LEIJER, Adriano PELLEGRINO, Joel PORTER, Nicky TRAVIS, Nick WARD

1 - Danny ALLSOPP, Costa BARBAROUSES, Andrew BARISIC, Nigel BOOGAARD, Grant BREBNER, Scott BULLOCH, Isaka CERNAK, Kofi DANNING, Luke DEVERE, David DODD, Travis DODD, Ahmad ELRICH, Ney FABIANO, Iain FYFE, Brendan GAN, Chris GROSSMAN, Jamie HARNWELL, Troy HEARFIELD, Dean HEFFERNAN, Todd HOWARTH, Adam Hughes, Karol KISEL, Robbie KRUSE, Michael MCGLINCHEY, Terry MCFLYNN, Charlie MILLER, Tahj MINNIECON, MILSON, Craig MOORE, Kevin MUSCAT, Jason NAIDOVSKI, Mitch NICHOLS, Lloyd OWUSU, Tomislav PONDELJAK, Sean ROONEY, Ben SIGMUND, John TAMBOURAS, Danny TIATTO, Rodrigo VARGAS, Alex WILKINSON