Last season's grand finalists Olympic Sharks and Perth Glory put a gap between themselves and the chasing national soccer league pack with weekend victories.

The Sharks remained top of the table with a 3-2 win over Northern Spirit on Friday night, while the Glory beat Wollongong 3-1 in Perth.

Olympic were three goals up inside the first 70 minutes, before Spirit's Vuko Tomasevic scored two late goals to make the scoreline respectable.

Spirit has now slipped into the crisis zone, sitting second bottom and without several regular players through injury.

And it gets no better for the Spirit, who must travel to third-placed Adelaide City next weekend.

The Adelaide team's charge at the top two stalled tonight, with a 2-1 loss to Sydney United, which has rocketed into the top six with its win.

Two Jon Angelucci goals - one in the last three minutes - sealed United's victory.

South Melbourne also moved to the fringe of the top six with a 4-2 victory over the Melbourne Knights in a pulsating local derby at Bob Jane Stadium.

Six goals, two send-offs and two penalties highlighted the game, which South made safe with two second half goals in the space of five minutes.

A stunning Bill Damianos free-kick in the 62nd minute gave South a 3-2 lead after their striker Peter Buljan and the Knights' Nik Sabljak were marched late in the first half in separate incidents for their second yellow card offences.

Then central Nick Tolios headed home the game sealer in the 67th minute to put South equal on points with the sixth-placed Knights.

Newcastle United remained in the top four with a 0-0 draw at home against Marconi on Friday night, while Football Kingz striker Paul Urlovic grabbed a late winner in his side's 2-1 win against Parramatta Power in Auckland on Friday night.

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