Sydney, (AP/UNB) – Defending champion Sydney FC ended a highly successful week atop the A-League after beating Brisbane 3-1 in the eighth round.Sydney was backing up only four days after beating Adelaide 2-1 in extra time in the final of the FFA Cup. It showed no signs of fatigue on Saturday as it claimed its sixth win in eight A-League games to move two points clear of Newcastle, which temporarily held first place after topping Melbourne Victory 4-1.Brisbane defender Avraam Papadopoulos was sent off for spitting at Sydney’s Matt Simon, and Simon was shown a red card for retaliation after the referee spent almost four minutes examining video replays.Melbourne City suffered its third loss in four games, going down to Perth 3-1 to fall four points behind Newcastle in third place.UNB news agency
