Melbourne City have celebrated Mathew Leckie's return to the A-League Men with a much-needed 2-0 defeat of the Newcastle Jets.
On his starting debut, 18-year-old Ben Mazzeo scored the opener inside 12 minutes on Sunday to give the visitors the upper hand.
Their second goal coincided with Leckie's injection into the contest for his first ALM minutes since suffering a knee injury on Socceroos duty in September.
Sluggish in defence, the Jets struggled to make the best of his opportunities. A missed free kick at close range midway through the second half was particularly costly.
"In the first half I thought we did quite well, in the second half for some unknown reason, we dropped off," Jets coach Rob Stanton told Paramount Plus.
The win, City's second of the season, hoists the struggling reigning premiers to seventh on the ladder. They are 2-1-1 since sacking coach Rado Vidosic two games into the season.
"It was an important win, it was a win we won as a team," City midfielder Tolgay Arslan said.
The Jets have lost back-to-back games against bottom-four sides and sit ninth on the table.
Croatian winger Marin Jakolis had a hand in both of City's goals, first dispossessing Dane Ingham on the left wing and sending a long cross to Mazzeo, who headed the ball home.
"Unfortunately we lost Leo Natel with sickness the last couple of days, Scotty Galloway also this morning pulled up pretty crook," City coach Aurelio Vidmar said of his decision to start Mazzeo.
"I'm not frightened to put young kids in, they'll give everything they have. Perfect starting debut for him."
Jakolis sparked the counter-attack for City's second goal when he stole possession from Phillip Cancar in the 58th minute.
The ball found Jamie MacLaren, who gave City a comfortable lead with his 148th ALM goal.
Playing on the right wing, Leckie was rusty on his injection into the contest in the 56th minute, fouling Reno Piscopo to give the Jets a chance to peg a goal back with a free kick.
But Leckie came close to scoring with a header at close range, but a third City goal was not to be.
Just as time was running out for the Jets to fight back, City goalkeeper Jamie Young received a yellow card for taking forward Archie Goodwin down on the right wing.
The shot-stopper faced a nervous wait as referee Shane Skinner ran a VAR check, before doubling down on his decision to award only a yellow.
The call frustrated the vociferous Newcastle crowd and Stanton.
"My opinion is, it's a red card," Stanton said.
"I have to accept the decision, but for some unknown reason we didn't get it.
"But that's the way it is, you've got to roll with it. I think it's a red (card) and I think it's a big error of judgment."
