Newcastle have claimed their first win of the A-League Men season and condemned Western United to a third consecutive loss with a 1-0 victory in Ballarat.
The Jets sealed their breakthrough win under new coach Rob Stanton, after two draws and a loss, via Apostolos Stamatelopoulos' goal in the 44th minute.
Newcastle were also contentiously denied a penalty in the 72nd minute at Mars Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The defeat puts pressure on John Aloisi's United, who beat Melbourne City in round one but have since failed to score in three consecutive defeats.
United conceded against the Jets despite dominating play.
The game opened up in the 10th minute when United's Daniel Penha thudded a venomous shot off the crossbar.
Newcastle's Clayton Taylor ripped a fierce strike just past the far post in the 24th minute, while United captain Josh Risdon volleyed just off target in the 32nd.
Former Jet Penha thumped home in the 40th minute but the ball clearly went out of play for a goal kick before Ben Garuccio's assist.
After a VAR referral, referee Casey Reibelt chalked off the goal.
Shortly after, Newcastle broke the deadlock.
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos scores his FOURTH goal in as many games for — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) @NewcastleJetsFC 🛩�🔥The 24-year-old strikes against his former side to hand the Jets a half-time lead!Tune in on @ParamountPlusAU 📺📰 Details: https://t.co/fwpLVrPNES#ALM #WUNvNEW pic.twitter.com/gPG1AURG3aNovember 11, 2023
Lucas Mauragis's looping ball to the back post was met by Trent Buhagiar, whose header clipped the bottom of the bar.
The ball then fell to Stamatelopoulos, who capitalised on the United defence switching off and powered home his fourth goal of the season.
United goalkeeper Tom Heward-Belle denied Taylor with a big save in the 55th minute.
Defender Tomoki Imai skidded a fierce strike just wide in the 65th as the hosts pressed for an equaliser.
Taylor looked for a penalty when he tangled legs with Risdon in the 72nd minute but Reibelt instead awarded a free kick to the United captain.
Risdon appeared to clip Taylor but after a VAR review and checking the vision, Reibelt didn't overturn her decision.
Striker Nikita Rukavytsya thought he'd equalised via a lovely looping header in the 87th minute but he was offside.
The Jets successfully wound down six minutes of added time for a hard-fought win ahead of the international break.