Melbourne City head into the A-League mid-season break on top of the ladder after World Cup-bound Jamie Maclaren netted the winner deny a luckless Newcastle Jets.
Maclaren made it 2-1 to City on 57 minutes as the league leaders held on against a fast-finishing Jets, with the Melbourne side reduced to 10 players for the final quarter-of-an-hour after Aiden O'Neill received a second yellow card.
Maclaren and his fellow Socceroo Mathew Leckie came through a full 90 minutes in their final domestic match ahead of travelling to Qatar for the World Cup.
Newcastle were coming off the back of two hefty away defeats, but City found the Jets a very different proposition on their own turf at Newcastle International Sports Centre.
The Jets narrowly missed finding an equaliser on several occasions and City goalkeeper Tom Glover was called on to make several key interceptions during an at-times chaotic second half.
The result leaves City undefeated at the summit with five wins from six, while the Jets remain near the bottom with two wins from five games.
The two sides exchanged first-half goals, with Richard van der Venne opening the scoring for City, before teammate Scott Jamieson turned the ball into his own net to hand Newcastle an equaliser.
Jets goalkeeper Michael Weier gifted the visitors the opening goal after coming out of his penalty area and completely missing the ball with an attempted diving header, allowing Van der Venne to complete an easy finish into the unguarded net.
The Jets shrugged off the setback and were rewarded as City fullback Jamieson turned a smart Trent Buhagiar cross into his own net shortly before halftime.
Beka Mikeltadze's rifled low shot forced a superb low save from Glover, and Rene Piscopo struck a fierce free-kick into the side netting as the Jets pushed the league leaders after the break.
Weier redeemed himself with a fingertip save to force a Marco Tilio shot onto the crossbar in an action-packed second half.
But Maclaren typically had the last say, tapping in Tilio's low cross for an eighth goal in six matches.
