It was an action-packed evening at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday evening, where the Jets came from behind twice to ultimately share the points with Macarthur FC.
It was a heated affair that saw multiple flashpoints between players, but it was the Jets who did it the hard way after falling behind on two occasions, but goals from Beqa Mikeltadze and Eli Babalj meant the side were able to tie the game which ended 2-all.
Here are the major talking points from our draw against Macarthur FC.
KING BEQA
He just can’t stop scoring.
The Georgian Gun landed his eighth goal against the Bulls, with the Golden Boot contender calmly slotting home a penalty to even up the scores midway through the first half.
Mikeltadze has quickly become a crowd favourite amongst Jets fans in his debut season in Australia, with the 24-year-old already turning into the side’s main attacking weapon and is already nearing double digits despite only playing 11 matches so far.
Beqa once again showed a cool head under pressure, with the penalty he netted against the Bulls – his fourth from four attempts this season. With the race for the top six heating up, goal differential could likely play a role, and having a more than competent penalty taker could certainly prove invaluable.
INSTANT IMPACT
Eli Babalj made an instant when he entered the game in the 78th minute, scoring the equaliser just a minute later with his first touch of the ball.
It was Babalj’s first goal for the club, and his first since 2019 in Thailand, and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time.
The former Socceroo’s goal saw the Jets draw level at 2-all heading into the last 10 minutes of the match, and he was unlucky not to score the winner as well after being ruled offside from a header late in injury time.
Although Mikeltadze has locked up that starting striking position time being, it’s only good news for the squad to have a strong backup in Babalj on the bench that is ready to go when called upon.
EDGING TOWARDS THE SIX
The draw against Macarthur sees the Jets solidify eighth spot on the ladder, and are now just three points off the log-jam inside the top six with four teams each sitting on 18 points.
Whilst the Jets still have games in hand, they will want to keep collecting competition points as they approach the business end of the season and hopefully push for a spot in this year’s finals series.
It would be the first time our Jets have featured in the finals since our Grand Final qualifying season in 2018.
After enjoying the last two fixtures at home, our side will now turn their attention to the league-leading Western United in Ballarat, before then completing another midweek game against Wellington Phoenix on the Central Coast.
