Newcastle Jets enjoyed their first victory of the season too, upsetting newcomers Western United with a scrappy 1-0 win. Adelaide United continue to quietly rack up the wins, taking down the Central Coast Mariners, while the malaise continues for Melbourne Victory as they fell in the Big Blue derby to Sydney FC.

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

Jamie Maclaren

J Mac is back, tell a friend.

Melbourne City fans would have been worried that he’d be a long term injury after going down early in the season, but he miraculously came back after only two weeks away to make the game against Brisbane Roar.

Not only is he making miracles off the pitch, he’s making them on it, too, with a hat-trick to go alongside his two braces already in the season. His tally is now seven goals in four games and he’s racing towards the golden boot.

What’s even more significant is that two of his goals on Sunday came from headers, a notoriously weak part of his game. If that’s where he’s worst, opponents will be afraid to find out what he’s best at.

It wasn’t enough on the day as the A-League gave us another wonderful treat with an exhilarating 4-3 to Brisbane, featuring a Roy O’Donovan hat trick himself, but it’s clear that Maclaren is head and shoulders above the rest of the league at the moment.

Michael Maria

Maria has been quietly impressive since joining Adelaide, but Saturday was his time to steal the show as he ran amok upon the Mariners defence.

Gertjan Verbeek has entrusted the Curacaoan in several positions further up the field, however it’s clear now that playing as a left-back with permission to storm up the field is where Maria will excel.

With the space to drive at his opposition defender, Maria backs himself to get past his man, and that confidence was what led to Adelaide’s come from behind victory. For Adelaide’s first, Maria storms into the final third before laying it off for Ben Halloran who scored after a quick interchange with Riley McGree.

Adelaide’s second goal was even better as Maria deceived Jordan Murray to send him the wrong and then ran across the byline before squaring a pinpoint ball for Nikola Mileusnic to finish with aplomb.

Interestingly, even with Maria’s stupendous performance, Verbeek could be heard shouting instructions to him throughout the game. Perhaps the 24 year old’s coach thinks there is more to come from his game, which can only be good news for United fans.

Samuel Silvera

Maria’s direct opponent on the flanks was the Mariners’ own star Silvera, which made for an exciting battle on the wings. Neither challenger gave an inch and it was the teenager who drew first blood as he ghosted past the Adelaide defence to draw a penalty and give his team an early lead.

Silvera took on Maria a few times throughout the match but he couldn’t find a teammate in the box often enough to make it count unlike the Adelaide left-back.

Still, the rise of Silvera has been outstanding to watch for A-League followers and it’s clear that he has the potential to go a long way. After a few weeks on the bench to start the season, it seems like Alen Stajcic now trusts his wonderkid enough to become a fulcrum of this Mariners squad.

The former Western Sydney Wanderers player showed his versatility as he moved into the centre of midfield to support his team and was crucial on the counter-attack where he used his quick feet to put the United defence under pressure.

Now Silvera just needs some more support from his team if they want to start moving up the table.

Glen Moss

Simply put, the Jets wouldn’t have recorded their first win of the season if it weren’t for Moss.

For the last 30 minutes of the Jets match, every time Western United stormed forward, you thought this time they would equalise. United were simply putting on so much pressure and Newcastle fell back deeper and deeper as they tried to protect their goal.

WU would have had their goal too if it weren’t for Moss, who stood tall as the shots rained in. The New Zealander made several acrobatic saves, many from point blank range where reflexes take control.

It’s hard to pick a favourite given there were so many spectacular examples, but in the space of a minute where he made two crucial goal-bound saves just epitomises how unstoppable he was.

He had luck on his side too, as VAR correctly ruled offside the only time Moss couldn’t get in front of a shot. Moss will need a few more games like Saturday night, though, if Newcastle want to achieve anything meaningful this season.

Rhyan Grant

Grant is here solely because he has somehow played 90 minutes in Jordan, travelled almost a full day back to Sydney, and then put in another shift again on Sunday night to help his team.

Amidst all that, he even found the time to provide the assist for the winner, chesting the ball straight into the path of Kosta Barbarouses to finish from the six yard box.

Right-backs providing assists inside the box might sound unusual, but it exemplifies Grant’s game of endlessly running back and forth across both ends of the pitch. Corica praised the 28 year old in his press conference, labelling him a key member of the team, signifying how far Grant has come.

To top it all off, it was also Grant’s 200th game in Sky Blue colours, and it will have been a memorable one as they claimed bragging rights against their Melbourne rivals.

PLUS...

Sidelined Pic Special: Big Blue Men!

All the action on and off the field in another cracking Big Blue between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at Jubilee Oval which saw a sky Blues win, clawing back from 1-0, courtesy of Ola Toivenon, to take the victory 2-1 thanks to a quickfire double from Adam Le Fondre and then Kosta Barbarouses against his club.