Teen striker Max Caputo was 10-man Melbourne City's unlikely saviour, scoring an equaliser at the death to earn a 1-1 A-League Men draw with Newcastle.
City appeared poised for a shock defeat when the Jets took the advantage via Beka Mikeltadze's spot-kick in the 31st minute after Andrew Nabbout was harshly penalised for handball.
Things got more difficult when City went down to 10 via Scott Jamieson's second yellow card in the 41st minute.
Caputo, 17, came on in the 90th minute and scored his first ALM goal two minutes later to wrench a point away from Sunday's clash at AAMI Park.
But City's hold on top spot is under threat.
Rado Vidosic's charges top the table on 42 points but just two points ahead of in-form Adelaide, while eighth-placed Newcastle (26 points) are two points outside the finals.
Newcastle enjoyed a massive let-off in the 12th minute.
Matt Jurman hit a pass straight at Jamie Maclaren, who shot straight at goalkeeper Michael Weier.
City centre-back Nuno Reis hobbled off in the 21st minute and six minutes later the Jets screamed for a handball after Carl Jenkinson headed the ball down into Nabbout's arm.
Following a VAR review, referee Jack Morgan pointed to the spot, with Beka Mikeltadze coolly converting.
Jamieson, booked in the 21st minute for holding back a surging Trent Buhagiar, was shown his second yellow card minutes before half-time.
The City skipper went in for a 50-50 challenge with Mikeltadze, getting to the ball just before the Newcastle striker.
But as he attempted to kick the ball, he missed and landed on the striker's foot.
Jamieson was aghast when shown his second yellow after Morgan consulted with fourth official Jonathan Barreiro.
Newcastle's Kosta Grozos spurned a couple of good chances early in the second half while City fluffed a golden chance to equalise in the 83rd minute.
Nabbout burst down the right touchline but put his squaring ball behind Jamie Maclaren.
But they earned a share of the points when Caputo, in his third game, rose highest to head home a wonderful corner from Florin Berenguer.
