AN injury-time goal from Melbourne Victory consigned Newcastle Jets to a costly 2-1 loss in the A-League clash at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night.
With time almost up, Victory substitute Francesco Margiotta nailed home a header that left Newcastle keeper Jack Duncan with no chance.
The loss left Newcastle seven points adrift of the top six with five games to play, and needing a minor miracle to make the finals.
Newcastle conceded an early goal but hit back to equalise midway through the second half and looked set to salvage a draw.
The Jets started promisingly enough, moving the ball around at speed, but were caught on the break in the sixth minute when Jason Geria produced a crafty pass to put Nicholas D'Agostino in behind Newcastle's last defender, Jordan Elsey.
Elsey chased in vain as D'Agostino fired an angled shot past Jets keeper Duncan into the net.
There was concern for in-form Newcastle striker Beka Mkeltadze just before half-time when he collided with a Victory defender attempting a header and crashed to the turf.
Mkeltadze paused as he prepared to take a corner kick and motioned to the referee that he was dizzy.
He received medical treatment as Newcastle played on with 10 men and was subsequently cleared to rejoin his teammates after the half-time break.
Penha wasted no time after the resumption proving that his head had cleared, blasting a shot in the first minute of the second half that thundered into the crossbar.
The rebound fell to his teammate Daniel Penha, whose shot also hit the crossbar.
Two minutes later, Victory experienced the same sense of frustration when a D'Agostino header bounced back off the bar.
Newcastle remonstrated for a penalty in the 62nd minute, when defender Matthew Spiranovic appeared to manhandle Mikeltadze in the box, but referee Jonathan Barreiro ruled play on after consulting with the fourth official.
Newcastle equalised in the 65th minute when Penha provided Savvas Siatravanis with a through ball, and in a virtual action replay of D'Agostino's opener, he buried it past Victory keeper Ivan Kelava.
Two minutes later, the roles were reversed when Siatravanis fed Penha, only for Kelava to shut down a threatening situation.
The win extended Melbourne's unbeaten streak to 11 games, a club record, and tightened their hold on third position.
