'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Nor a Newcastle Jets' player, for that matter.
You could excuse the Western Sydney Wanderers if over-indulged just a little in the coming days – they've earned it. But they won't. They can smell something much more appetising than brandy sauce and leftover turkey.
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Wanderers stay undefeated for ninth straight game
Western Sydney will enjoy Christmas in the knowledge theyâre five points clear at the top of the A-League ladder after dismantling Newcastle 2-0.
Five points clear on top of the table, the Wanderers are surely the team to beat and will only get better from here. The question is no longer of them. Now it's who can go with them.
"We're not even at the half-way mark and I'm sure if you asked any coach after 12 rounds if his side were the finished article, they'd all say no and we have to say the same," said coach Tony Popovic. "We can't just say, because of the results, that we're done. There's a lot of room still for improvement.
"We've got to enjoy Christmas now but also prepare for another home game, on New Years' Day — which is great for our fans — against Adelaide."
From the opening whistle, there was little to suggest there could be any result other than a thumping win to the home side.
With Lee Ki-je currently undertaking a medical with South Korean side Ulsan Hyundai and Jason Hoffman injured, the Jets were robbed of their first-choice wing-backs.
That left midfielders Nick Cowburn and Cameron Watson to face Mark Bridge and Romeo Castelen, two of the league's most in-form players. As you might expect, they ran amok.
The Wanderers took the ball in the first minute and virtually held onto it thereafter, always looking to push forward, always looking to pin the Jets deep in their own half.
Often criticised for playing on the counter-attack in previous years, the Wanderers showed themselves capable of the complete opposite: meaningful, vertical passes were played as much as possible.
By the 10-minute mark, Scott Miller's side had their line so deep that even the forwards were operating as defensive midfielders.
The Wanderers were generating ample chances, Bridge and Castelen especially looking incredibly threatening. Dimas and Scott Jamieson blasted over. It all seemed a matter of when, not if.
Out of nothing, the Jets should have taken the lead when David Carney slipped a beautiful pass behind the Wanderers' defence. Ryan Kitto skipped beyond the challenge of Nikolai Topor-Stanley but his shot went straight to Andrew Redmayne.
That was the only moment the Wanderers' goalkeeper was legitimately challenged in the opening stanza as the visitors retreated back into their shell.
Fedrico Piovaccari should have made them pay a minute later when Bridge's deflected effort fell into his path, but he somehow scooped the ball over.
Just after the half-hour mark, Piovaccari had the chance to atone, but the Italian's angled shot was blocked by Mark Birighitti.
The Jets were arguably denied a penalty late in the first half when their former defender, Scott Neville, raised his left arm and clearly made contact with the ball. Despite appeals from the players, the referee waved off the incident.
But the Wanderers would get the goal they deserved before the end of the half, although it took two defenders to make it happen.
Jamieson took a free-kick wide on the right and curled it right onto the head of the unmarked Alberto. The Spanish defender headed the ball down and, while Birighitti should have saved it, he somehow fumbled the ball into the net.
The Jets came out more convincingly in the second half with Carney the obvious go-to man. His tricky feet brought a caution for Topor-Stanley and space for teammates. A few more of him and the Jets might have stood a chance.
Bridge and Castelen again went close, the former hitting his effort wide and the latter being denied by Daniel Mullen as the Wanderers continued to pour on the pressure.
Piovaccari had two chances taken from the tip of his toes by some desperate defending – but his performance was defended as "excellent" by his coach, who praised his pressing and reckoned "on another day, he could have had a hat-trick".
As inevitably as the first goal was, so the second had the same whiff about it.
Dario Vidosic had only just come off the bench when he fired in a low shot that Birighitti could only parry away. But Bridge collected smartly, beat his man and fired in his fifth goal in five matches.
"[I'm] very impressed with [with Bridge]. He looks focused, he's got that real hunger and desire to do well," Popovic said. "He's scoring, but he's a great team player. He's leading from the front, on and off the field. He's been with me on this journey since day one and it's good to see."
It was a beautiful sight, which made their fans happy all night, walking in a Western Sydney wonderland.
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