The numbers that matter
The big winners of Round 11 were...
Wellington Phoenix, despite there being many leading candidates to win this category such as Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory.
We were absolutely elated to see embattled manager Giancarlo Italiano needing to hold back tears of relief at his post-game press conference following what he described as "his best victory as a coach".
The Phoenix have picked up two wins in their last three games, the other against the lowly Mariners, but had to pick up these three points with some very difficult work.
At a sold out Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe, with Carlo Armiento sent off within half an hour, Wellington not only held onto their 1-0 lead with ten men but tripled it.
Brisbane held the ball for 81% of the second half and racked up 14 shot attempts after the break with a helpless Michael Valkanis watching from the stands, but couldn't get past a brave Phoenix outfit who now have a great opportunity to climb into the top six.
Next week they host Adelaide - who they have already defeated on home soil in late November - with a chance to overtake them and emerge as an unlikely finals contender.
The big losers of Round 11 were...
Melbourne City, who are freefalling down the table whilst their rivals for the top-six such as Wellington Phoenix, Newcastle Jets and even the Central Coast Mariners are showing some upside.
Head coach Aurelio Vidmar insisted that the players continue to do all the right things despite his side now picking up two points from their last four league games despite taking home ground advantage and favouritism into all four games.
The busy schedule of an Asian Champions League campaign that resumes in February and has them well-placed for the Round of 16 is biting domestically.
They have absolutely squandered their run of home matches, which still has Brisbane Roar, Newcastle Jets and Auckland still to come in the next fortnight before they hit the round for six out of seven fixtures beyond that.
Team of the week
Our player of the round, according to our in-house player ratings, was Sydney FC goalkeeper who notched up a 9.3 out of ten by saving nine shots out of nine for a clean sheet against Melbourne City.
Read more about our Team of the Week here.
Goal of the Week
What the managers said
Steve Corica (Auckland FC): "Very frustrating, obviously, especially when they went down to ten men. We still had plenty of time to score and to even go and win the game. We just didn't have any quality in that final third."
Giancarlo Italiano (Wellington Phoenix): "That was probably the best victory I've ever had as a coach. I've been around a long time, heard a lot of crap, especially around my team. I'm just immensely proud of the group."
Aurelio Vidmar (Melbourne City): "A goal was all that was missing. I think we came out committed, courageous and with a great attitude. We probably had triple the amount of opportunities and entries into the box. On another day we could have got one or two and won the game but unfortunately we didn't, so we've got to keep pushing on."
Click here for a full summary of post-game comments from each head coach.
Next week's fixtures
The hectic day-by-day fixture of the holiday period is almost beyond us, with a couple of rescheduled matches to be played early in midweek before things to return to normal with a full six-game round next weekend.
All kick-off times below are local.
Monday 7:00pm: Macarthur v Auckland
Tuesday 7:00pm: Melbourne City v Brisbane
Friday 6:35pm: Brisbane v Auckland
Saturday 5:00pm: Melbourne Victory v Western Sydney
Saturday 6:45pm: Perth v Central Coast
Saturday 7:35pm: Macarthur v Sydney
Sunday 3:00pm: Wellington v Adelaide
Sunday 5:00pm: Melbourne City v Newcastle