90min+2: Trifunovic gets caught... you can fill in the blank yourself. At least it’s added something interesting to these final few moments.

90 min+1: Trifunovic. Offside. This is just silly. In his defence, I think two of his teammates were offside with him.

89 min: Trifunovic with his 123rd offside. Seriously, can he not see the defensive line? Those red and blue shirts are so easily confused.

88 min: Kitto tries to strike one from distance and, guess what, it’s hapless - lacking both pace and direction. Sorensen watches it trundle out for a goal kick.

85 min: Well this has petered out quickly. As good as City have been, the Jets have been hapless in attack. Carney tries to dink one over the keeper but Kisnorbo tracks back and clears it before it gets to the line. Seconds later, Trifunovic is caught offside for the 103rd time in the game.

82 min: The Jets starting to get more into it as City take their foot off the gas. There’s no way back, obviously, but they might grab a consolation. It’s been a horror second half for the hosts.

79 min: Actually, forget about whether City can hit a fifth, the real question is can they keep a clean sheet? Not exactly their strong point and they’ve just switched off slightly. I don’t think anyone doubts their attacking credentials but a blank on the “goals against” column would be bonus.

77 min: Clisby goes down clutching his left leg. Newcastle take the chance to swap Leonardo for Crowley.

75 min: Little urgency from either side now. The question is will City get a fifth? Fornaroli looks desperate for a third.

72 min: Oooo. Bit of a let off for Sorensen who gets in Leonardo’s way with a dubious “challenge”. Could arguably have been off. Generous interpretation of the rules by the ref. Certainly would have made the last 15 minutes more interesting...

69 min: City bring off Franjic and on comes Koren - just to emphasise the talent van’t Schip has at his disposal. So much for my suggestion.

67 min: City happy just to knock the ball around now, passing practice for the visitors. Newcastle look like a broken team.

65 min: Call me Mr Boring but if I was in John Van’t Schip’s shoes I’d be thinking of taking off Mooy or Fornaroli right about now - hat-trick be damned. He’s already picked up a couple of injuries this game, another one to a key man could have serious consequences for future fixtures - as opposed to one that’s almost dead and buried.

57 min: Carney again getting into a good position but his cross is too high and the danger is past. They’ve actually been in some good positions but have all the killer instincts of a nun.

53 min: Mooy so close to making it a brace. Great little run across the face of goal, the shot opens up but he can only hit it high over the bar courtesy of a deflection.

52 min: Carney in a dangerous position but he can’t pick anyone out - possibly because there’s only two blue shirts and five reds in the box. They still win a corner - and Kantarovski’s header goes inches wide.

50 min: A Carney corner is headed away well and Lee Ki-Je gives away a free-kick, just to smother out the danger completely.

49 min: The Jets finally get into it a little more... but yet again they give away an offside as they try to break through. Carney this time. Not sure if it’s lazy forward play or good communication from the City defence. I suspect the first one.

48 min: I don’t think the Jets actually touched the ball for the first two minutes of this half - except once to give away a free-kick, and again to give away a throw. City dominant.

45 min: City have their tails up now as the half comes to a close. Fornaroli with a lovely lay-off to set the break on its way, it ends up with Novillo but he doesn’t make clean contact from the edge of the box and Newcastle hold on.

42 min: Hoffman goes into the book for a challenge on Novillo. Don’t think it was cynical, the City speedster was just too quick-footed. Novillo hobbles back onto his feet.

40 min: City are finishing the half strongly. A lovely cross from Novillo seems to evade everyone and bounce out near the keeper’s back post. Any kind of touch and it would have been 1-0.

38 min: Fornaroli with a lovely first touch after a ball over the top of the defence, but the keeper closes him down quickly and manages to block the shot. Good work by Birighitti. Not the first time that’s been said this season.

35 min: Surprise, surprise, it hits the wall. Again. That stubborn Jets defence has been very evident so far.

35 min: City enjoying a little spell of pressure now. A low shot has Birighitti scrambling to save and the visitors then win another free-kick in dangerous territory - a little further out though. Mooy sizes it up.

34 min: Paartalu gets a clean header from Mooy’s corner but it sails past the back post and the Jets breathe again.

32 min: Alivodic. Offside again - and no excuses either. They were three on three with City tracking back under pressure, and the chance is wasted. City go up the other end and win a free-kick about 20 yards out. It hits the wall and spins out for a corner.

30 min: It’s always that last touch that lets the Jets down. Great work by Leonardo to win the ball and release Carney, but his first touch takes it too far away from the goalkeeper and City get back in numbers to snuff out the danger. Trifunovic makes the final shot but it’s little more than a half-chance from distance by the time it reaches him.

28 min: Still not much in it but the Jets have slightly shaded it so far. City still look more dangerous in the final third - they just haven’t been there that much.

26 min: That’s Chapman’s contribution finished for the day. On comes Garuccio. Blow for City.

24 min: Lee Ki-Je with a vicious curler from the free-kick, but it doesn’t bend enough to seriously trouble Sorensen who watches it fly out for a goal-kick.

23 min: It’s the Jets with a free-kick in dangerous territory now - with Melling hurling himself bodily into Leonardo, yet somehow escaping the referee’s book. Play is held up while Chapman is treated for a leg injury. Might be his knee.

22 min: Dear oh dear. Trifunovic passes it straight out for a throw-in when Leonardo was just a couple of metres away from it. Poor. Sums up the game so far, no one really standing out.

20 min: Lovely bit of footwork from Mooy to set Fornaroli on his way but he overcooks his first touch and the Jets defence gets back behind the ball. Too many tiny errors from both sides, no real flow to the game at the minute.

18 min: Well after that initial early flurry of corners and a few breaks for the Jets, it’s started to settle down. City have looked more dangerous when they have broken, but there’s very little in it so far. Paartalu goes into the book for a cynical challenge to stop a Jets counter-attack. He knew exactly what he was doing.

17 min: Mooy with another wayward free-kick. The $2m-man not exactly showing his value so far. Not a great idea to keep giving him chances though...

15 min: The wall does its job though, Trif getting a firm head on the curling effort from Mooy.

14 min: Fornaroli tussling with Jackson and gives away a free-kick. Well defended in the end but he’ll have to be on his game for 90 minutes to keep the Uruguayan quiet. Seconds later, Fornaroli is almost clean through but just can’t take the high ball down with his first touch. He’s still won a free-kick though. Perfectly centre 25 yards out.

12 min: City getting back into it, or at least enjoying more possession in the Jets’ half of the field. That chance for Alivodic was still the only clear opening so far.

10 min: Alivodic gives away a free-kick on the right side of the box. Mooy to whip it in. It’s dangerous enough but Birighitti punches it away to safety.

8 min: It’s been all Newcastle for the last five minutes but it’s almost like they don’t know what to do with the ball when they’re in the final third. City hit on the break but its defended well by the hosts and Novillo is hounded out.

7 min: Oooo! That was better by the Jets. Trif with a good pass to open the defence but Alivodic hits the keeper with his shot from close-range. Good start by Newcastle - not often you can say that.

6 min: Trif offside again. Not even close. Starting to see why the Jets have struggled to score this season.

5 min: The Jets almost thread their way through. Leonardo wins the ball, but the final pass isn’t that great and Trifunovic has made his run too early anyway. Offside.

4 min: Corner time for Newcastle now. Taken short but dealt with well by the City defence. It’s been jam-packed with corner action so far.

2 min: Aaaaand it’ll be another. And another. Three successive corners, first two headed out by defenders, the third flicked on but too high by the first City player at the near post. It floats over the crossbar.

Teams news time, and no huge surprises. Looks like Boogaard is not quite back to match fitness – he’s not even on the bench. There was talk that Koren might slot straight back into the City starting XI but it’s a place on the bench instead. Understandable considering the side’s recent form.

Newcastle Jets: Birighitti; Hoffman, Watson, Jackson, Lee Ki-Je; Poljak, Kantarovski; Alivodic, Leonardo, Carney; Trifunovic. Subs: Pavidevic, Kennedy, Cowburn, Crowley, Kitto.

Melbourne City: Sorensen; Franjic, Chapman, Kisnorbo, Clisby; Melling, Mooy, Paartalu; Mauk, Fornaroli, Novillo. Subs: Velaphi, Garuccio, Retre, Williams, Koren.

Anyway, back to the game at hand, or rather the man of the moment – Aaron Mooy. The big news for City fans in midweek was the club turning down a record bid for their star playmaker.

Good news for City, and the A-League in general, but am I the only who took the references to “he’s not going anywhere in January” to mean “he’s definitely going at the end of the season”? I think most reasonable fans would see this as a fair enough deal in an era of player power. Certainly Bruno Fornaroli will want him around as he makes his charge for the Golden Boot.

Speaking of last night’s game, it’s not been a great week or so for Kevin Muscat. They looked unstoppable a couple of weeks ago, but they could be down to fourth if City win tonight. How quickly things change. That said, I did have a bit of sympathy for them last week when they basically played a mirror-version of themselves on concrete in Auckland. The silver lining was it prompted Muscat to come out with one of my favourite quotes of the season so far: “The last time I checked, grass is a pretty vital ingredient for a game of football. Unfortunately there was none there today.”

It’s the word ‘unfortunately’ that does it for me. Were the kits too similar? Was the pitch too hard? Take a look at this clip and judge for yourselves.

Shocking footage has emerged of fans attacking each other with weapons during last night’s game between Victory and Wanderers. Just look at this exclusive film handed to News Corp. Disgraceful.

And on a personal note, I’d just like to say how proud and humbled I was to be included in the supporters’ boycott. In fact, according to the website’s hit count, fans were boycotting my blogs well before the action against the FFA. Just happy to do my bit.

Richard will be here shortly to guide you through proceedings at the Hunter Stadium this evening. In the meantime, here’s what happened at Pirtek Stadium last night – a real rip-roarer.