In front of 11,349 supporters at HBF Park, a second half strike from defender Ivan Franjic helped lift Tony Popovic’s side to a narrow victory over the Novocastrians.

Sydney FC’s hopes of claiming the A-League 2019 Premiership suffered a blow on Saturday after they drew 1-1 with Western Sydney Wanderers FC in the Sydney Derby at ANZ Stadium.

And with Perth winning in the west on Sunday, the Glory can no longer be caught by the Sky Blues atop the A-League 2018/19 standings.

Goals, saves, flowing moves and much more all make it onto the list following Matchday Three as the-AFC.com looks back at the week in numbers.

With some teams now starting to eye knockout round qualification and others trying to salvage their campaigns, the-AFC.com takes a look at how those involved reflected on their latest matches.

Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Anderson Talisca's two goals in his side's 4-0 win at home to Australian club Melbourne Victory in their Group F Matchday Three clash on Wednesday saw the Brazilian earn this week's accolade.

Talisca's double came in the opening ten minutes of the match at Tianhe Stadium which is the fastest on record since 2013. The exciting attacker also provided 55% of his team's crosses in Matchday Three.

Talisca had a total of five shots on goal and tallied 33 passes to go along with his two goals as he was awarded a 9.3 rating to top the Toyota Player of the Week standings.

Cedric Bakambu (below) likewise shone on Matchday Three with the Beijing FC forward scoring a hat-trick in the Chinese side's 3-1 win at Buriram United.

A largely uneventful match between the 2012 winners and the reigning J.League champions appeared to be heading for a draw until substitute Kim Su-an stole in front of goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong to head home Kim Tae-hwan’s cross from the right in the 91st minute.

The victory ensured unbeaten Ulsan extended their lead at the top of the Group H standings to three points as they made it back-to-back 1-0 home wins.

The former Manchester United midfielder headed home from a corner on the half hour mark to open the scoring, before fellow ex-English Premier League star Graziano Pelle doubled the advantage.

JDT's young talent Safawi Rasid pulled a goal back in spetacular style just before the hour, but Fellaini and his teammates were able to hold out for a crucial win that sees them take hold of second place in Group E.