DIMI Petratos was at his irresistible best as the Newcastle Jets found their form in front of goal to embarrass Western Sydney Wanderers 5-1 at ANZ Stadium on Friday night and breathe life into their A-League play-off hopes.
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The visitors had scored 15 goals in 16 games, the worst in the league, before Friday but exploded into form.
The haul included two goals from penalties, the first time the Jets have been awarded a spot kick this season.
Roy O’Donovan notched a double, while Petratos, Jason Hoffman and Matthew Ridenton also hit the target.
The win moved the Jets to 18 points, eight adrift of sixth-placed Wellington, who they meet at home on Thursday night.
The only bright note on a miserable night for the home side was a goal from substitute and new arrival Mitch Duke in the 69th minute.
Jets coach Ernie Merrick was delighted with the performance and said “we didn’t have a bad player.”
“It was a day where things came together for us,” Merrick said. “We have been working a lot on finishing and I had a feeling we were going to score a few goals against some team and unfortunately for Wanderers it was them.
“The things we have been working on came off for us. We played some really good football in the front third. Our defence was solid and I though we controlled the midfield for the most of the game. In any football match, the midfield is key. It all came together really well.”
Merrick made three changes from the 2-0 loss to Perth. Hoffman and Petratos were reinstalled in the XI and Johnny Koutroumbis returned at right back after a final round of treatment for thyroid cancer.
Josh Risdon returned from Socceroos duties at right back for Wanderers and new signing Duke was included on the bench.
Steady rain soaked the pitch, making it hard for the players to keep their feet and move the ball quickly.
However, the slippery conditions didn’t prevent Petratos from producing a master class in the opening 45 minutes.
The attacking midfielder scored a goal, helped set up another and delivered eight crosses into the box as the Jets flew out to a 3-0 lead.
After having a shot blocked in the third minute, Petratos made the most of a second opportunity in the 18th minute, curling a shot from the edge of the penalty box inside the left post.
The fringe Socceroo was heavily involved again six minutes later as the Jets doubled their advantage.
Petratos delivered a clever backheel into the path of Daniel Georgievski. The fullback’s shot was blocked by Tarek Elrich and the rebound fell for Hoffman to drive into the ground, over the keeper and into the top-right corner.
In an end-to-end affair, Bruce Kamau went close to pulling a goal back for Wanderers in the 28th minute but couldn’t beat the out-stretched leg of keeper Glen Moss, who was oustanding.
The Jets put an exclamation mark on their most productive half this season when Ronny Vargas was awarded a penalty after his foot was swept out by Marc Tokich. The defender appeared to get the ball, but he also clipped the heel of the Venezuelan.
Vedran Janjetovic dived the right way to block Roy O’Donovan’s spot kick but the ball rebounded back for the Irishman to tuck away.
The rout continued four minutes into the second half when Petratos crossed to Ridenton at the back post. The Kiwi took a touch and nutmegged Hamill from an acute angle.
There was no doubt about the Jets’ second penalty in the 58th minute when Tokich kicked the leg off Hoffman.
O’Donovan was clinical with his second spot kick, driving it into the bottom right corner.
