A-League champions Melbourne City threw a two-goal lead away to draw 2-2 away at Adelaide United in their second game of the season.

City kicked their title defence off with a 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar in their opening match and looked set to make it two wins from two after goals from Jamie Maclaren and Andrew Nabbout gave them a 2-0 advantage after 61 minutes.

However, Adelaide struck twice in the closing stages, with Stefan Mauk halving the deficit before Ben Halloran grabbed a dramatic 90th-minute equaliser to stun City.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Sydney, who finished just two points behind City in second last season, slipped to a 1-0 defeat against Macarthur at home after an early Lachlan Rose strike.

Macarthur are now level on points with table-topping City and Wellington Phoenix, who beat Central Coast Mariners 2-1, but are behind the pair on goals scored and sit third.

Gary Hooper scored for the second game running for the Phoenix in their home clash with the Mariners, who pulled one back through Marco Urena before Jaushua Sotirio fired in the winner.

The Nix are now unbeaten in 13 matches stretching back into last season and face Western Sydney Wanderers in their next game.

Macarthur were unable to earn a home A-league elimination-final clash after being comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Wellington Phoenix, who ended their season on a high but with a lingering sense of 'what if'.

The Phoenix opened the scoring just before half-time through David Ball, who latched on to Tomer Hemed's backheeled pass before finishing into the bottom-left corner past Adam Federici.

A lightning start to the second period had the Phoenix 2-0 up within a minute of the restart, Hemed converting a simple tap-in after the ball fortuitously fell for him in the box.

Things went from bad to worse for the Bulls just before the hour as Loic Puyo had a yellow card upgraded to a red by VAR after catching Ulises Davila on the knee – the Mexican and his Phoenix team-mates showed sympathy with him, however, with replays showing the Frenchman had attempted to pull out from the collision.

Hemed had the chance to make it 3-0 in the 85th minute but saw his penalty saved after Lachlam Rose brought Louis Fenton down in the box.

But the visitors did get a third goal in stoppage time, Ben Waine collecting Ball's pass and slotting in just three minutes after replacing the lively Reno Piscopo.

Phoenix's performance was one of a team who should be in the Finals, but they end the season a point behind adrift of the top six, while Macarthur's first ever A-League campaign continues.

The Bulls go into the Finals as the lowest-ranked team, meaning they will not be able count on home advantage – not that it did them much good here – in their elimination-final.

Bobo got the only goal as Sydney FC ended a derby drought in their rivalry with Western Sydney Wanderers, whose hopes of reaching the A-League Finals suffered a major blow.

The 1-0 win for Sydney FC at the SCG extended their 100 per cent record – now three wins from three – in games played at the world-famous cricket ground.

Brazilian Bobo and Western Sydney's Bruce Kamau had goals disallowed before the game's decisive moment arrived in the 62nd minute, Milos Ninkovic's dinked cross from the left deftly headed into the bottom right corner by Sydney's prolific striker.

It gave Bobo a 10th goal in 19 A-League appearances this season and his fifth goal in games between the Sky Blues and Western Sydney. Only Alex Brosque (six) has scored more goals in the history of the rivalry.

The neat finish also allowed Sydney to end their six-game winless run against Western Sydney (L3 D3), with their most recent previous victory having come in December 2018.

Sydney sit second in the table, with Melbourne City having already secured the Premiers Plate, but the race is on for post-season places and Western Sydney are in danger of missing out. Needing a top-six finish, they sit ninth with three games remaining, three points adrift of sixth-placed Brisbane Roar, who have a game in hand.

Adelaide United nudged up to third position with a 1-0 win over lowly Melbourne Victory, with Craig Goodwin scoring in the 39th minute, securing a seventh win for the Reds in the last eight league meetings between the sides.

Perth Glory's Finals hopes were hit by a 1-1 draw against fifth-placed Macarthur. 

Diego Castro put hosts Perth ahead in the 13th minute from the penalty spot after Andy Keogh was impeded, but Matt Derbyshire levelled on the half-hour mark, plundering his 14th goal of the campaign from close range.

Adelaide United missed the chance to go top of the A-League but at least avoided suffering defeat as they fought from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Sydney on Sunday.

It looked as though Adelaide were on their way to a second loss in four games, as Bobo rounded off a lovely move to open the scoring in the 19th minute, before doubling his tally early in the second half with a simple finish into an empty net after Kosta Barbarouses wasted a one-on-one situation.

But United pulled one back 15 minutes from time, Jordan Elsey turning in a left-wing cross, and Tomi Juric's fierce strike a few moments later restored parity.

Adelaide might have gone on to seal the win and subsequently leap above Melbourne City, who went top on Saturday with a remarkable 7-0 derby win over Melbourne Victory, but Rhyan Grant brought Craig Goodwin down as the last man to earn a straight red deep into stoppage time.

Just outside Sydney, Macarthur were held to a 2-2 draw by the Newcastle Jets, whose club-record winless streak was extended to eight games.

But just as they did last week against Perth Glory, the Jets showed character to fight back from behind, with Charles M'Mombwa and Loic Puyo putting Macarthur 2-1 up after Roy O'Donovan's penalty had initially put the visitors in front.

Steven Ugarkovic equalised just before the hour mark with a gorgeous 20-yard effort and that ultimately salvaged a point.

The day's late game was similarly entertaining and did yield a winner as Wellington Phoenix beat Glory 3-1, with all goals coming in the second half.

Ben Waine caught Glory goalkeeper Luke Reddy out of his net for the first, only for Joel Chianese to equalise two minutes later with a stunning effort, picking out the top-left corner after slaloming between a couple of defenders.

But Louis Fenton tapped in to make it 2-1 with 66 on the clock and Jaushua Sotirio - released by the lively Ulises Davila - showed great composure to seal the win and boost the Phoenix's outside chances of reaching the Finals.

Central Coast Mariners boosted their lead atop the A-League to seven points thanks to a 2-0 win over Macarthur in their top-of-the-league clash on Monday.

Macarthur were hoping to inflict a second defeat in three games on the hosts and move to within one point of the summit, but the Mariners produced a professional display to get the job done.

It took the home side only nine minutes to go in front, with Matt Simon's shot deflecting over the unfortunate Adam Frederici in the Macarthur goal.

The away side should have restored parity early in the second half when Aleksandar Susnjar hit two feeble efforts straight at the goalkeeper from point-blank range.

Mariners capitalised nine minutes from time, Matthew Hatch turning home with his first touch in A-League football 25 seconds after coming off the bench.

Matt Derbyshire showed a poacher's instinct as he grabbed a second-half hat-trick in Macarthur's 4-0 win over Adelaide United.

The former Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest striker sent Macarthur second in the A-League, with Mark Milligan also on target at Campbelltown Stadium.

In driving rain, Derbyshire swooped low as a corner from the left was helped on to the back post, heading Macarthur ahead from no more than a couple of yards in the 66th minute.

He then took advantage of Tommy Oar's low cross from the left that skidded across the wet surface to slide in the second goal seven minutes later.

Milligan weighed in with a third for the hosts after clever link-up play saw Derbyshire slip the captain behind the Adelaide defence to caress the ball into the bottom left corner.

Derbyshire still had unfinished business and he struck from inside the six-yard box for the third time in the game in the 90th minute, the close-range header from another left-wing cross by Oar sealing his night's work.

Brisbane Roar moved back to the top of the A-League after thrashing Melbourne Victory 5-2 on Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.

Six of the seven goals came in a thrilling first half, with the visitors finding themselves 3-0 down inside 17 minutes.

Dylan Wenzel-Halls' fifth goal in four games got Brisbane away to a strong start before a fine strike from Scott McDonald and a close-range finish from Riku Danzaki came in the space of three minutes.

Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio seized a lifeline when he turned in Adama Traore's cross, but McDonald headed his second from a Corey Brown corner to make it 4-1.

Jake Brimmer reduced the deficit with a free-kick deep into first-half injury time, but Danzaki struck again four minutes after the restart as Roar went top, above Central Coast Mariners on goal difference.

In the later game at Campbelltown Stadium, Western Sydney Wanderers twice came from a goal down to secure a 2-2 draw with Macarthur.

Graham Dorrans cancelled out Aleksandar Jovanovic's opener and, after Aleksandar Susnjar had restored the hosts' lead, Simon Cox nodded in a second equaliser following a stunning scorpion-kick-style assist from Keanu Baccus.

The result keeps the Wanderers fourth, a point above Ante Milicic's side.