Soccer: With 12 rounds to go there's only 12 points in it

With 12 rounds to play and a 12-point split from top to bottom there is plenty of soccer to be played before the top six teams for the A-League play-offs are found.

Sydney FC slumped to a second successive loss - beaten 2-0 in Perth - to surrender the league to Melbourne Victory who sneaked home with an early Archie Thompson goal in Brisbane while the Wellington Phoenix won on the road for the first time this season to hold sixth place. Their 1-0 win in front of the smallest crowd of the round - just 4239 in stifling heat at EnergyAustralia Stadium - was their fourth of the season.

With just three, the Phoenix still have the least losses in the league and the second-best goal differential (+6) behind fourth-placed Central Coast (+13).

Gold Coast United were denied the chance to move back into second place when Mathew Leckie snatched the equaliser for Adelaide United three minutes into stoppage time at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Steve Fitzsimmons had given Gold Coast their 64th minute lead as they played with 10 men following Kristian Rees' 33rd minute dismissal for bringing down the speedy Leckie.

Glen Moss was relegated to the bench as Melbourne Victory beat Brisbane Roar 1-0 at Suncorp Stadium in front of the biggest crowd (9904) of the round. Thompson gave the visitors the lead after eight minutes but the game was dominated by the Roar who enjoyed 65 per cent of possession, led the shot count 11-6 and claimed the only four corners of the match.

They played the dying minutes a player short after halftime substitute Henrique was sent off for catching the ball.

Minutes earlier Roar captain Craig Moore appeared to have scored the equaliser but his effort was ruled out by referee Ben Williams who claimed Moore had raised his arm in challenging young goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak who had taken Moss' place in the Victory goal.

In a match in which no cards were issued, Central Coast Mariners beat North Queensland Fury 5-1 away with Nick Mrdja scoring twice.

Again, the statistics did not back the final result with the home side having the better of the shot count, corners and possession.

Perth's win in front of an encouraging 8932 fans at Members Equity Stadium snapped a four-game winless streak for the West Australians. Second half goals for Scott Bulloch and Branko Jelic - a minute from time - earned the Glory their sixth win of the season and kept them a place ahead of the Phoenix.

Perth have the tough turnaround this week. They are away to Central Coast on Friday night while in the match of the round, Melbourne are at home to Gold Coast on Saturday.

The Phoenix are back in Australia on Sunday and face the prospect of another hot one when they play Brisbane at Suncorp in Sunday's last game of the round.