Sydney FC all but conceded the A-League minor premiership to Adelaide United after being held to a 0-0 draw with Newcastle Jets at Aussie Stadium on Friday night.

Despite a wealth of possession, a misfiring Sydney failed to score against its NSW rivals, allowing Adelaide, which beat Melbourne 1-0 on Thursday night, to skip nine points clear on top of the table with just four rounds remaining.

While an improvement from their 4-1 shellacking to Central Coast last week, the Jets are still in danger of dropping out of the top four this weekend despite the draw.

The third-placed Jets are now just two points clear of Central Coast and Perth, with those teams still to play home games in round 17 - the Mariners against lowly New Zealand Knights on Sunday, and Glory versus Queensland on Saturday.

After a 2-2 draw with the Knights last week, it was another disappointing result for Sydney after a successful Club World Championship campaign over the Christmas break.

Luck, though, played its part, with Sydney striker Sasho Petrovski only a coat of paint away from giving the home side victory in the 75th minute.

Andrew Packer delivered a fine cross to Petrovski at the far post, with the former Socceroo's header thumping the underside of the cross bar and spinning back away from the goal line.

David Zdrilic, in his 300th league game, parried the rebound back goalward but Jets' 'keeper Liam Reddy had recovered well and secured Newcastle a point with a desperate save.

It summed up a frustrating night for the 15,211-strong crowd, as Sydney dominated but too often fell down in attack against a committed Jets defence.

Sydney did not allow Newcastle a clear chance until early in the second half, but despite enjoying 61 per cent of possession could only muster two shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes.

Dwight Yorke had the best chance in the first half - set up by a Steve Corica tap on in the 27th - but the ball drifted too close to a charging Reddy, who was able to block Yorke's strike.

David Carney also looked to be heading goalward from a Sydney long ball midway through the second half, but Jets skipper Ned Zelic tracked the midfielder back into the box and cleverly stole possession.

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