Newcastle punched a gaping hole in Melbourne's A-League title defence with a clever, hard-fought 2-0 win over a 10-man Victory at Telstra Dome.

Melbourne fell behind early to Adam Griffiths' controversial eighth minute header, in which he appeared to impede marker Danny Allsopp to get a clear sight of goal.

But Melbourne were left a mountain to climb when defender Steve Pantelidis had a brain explosion in the 66th minute, elbowing Newcastle striker Joel Griffiths in the head to earn a deserved red card.

There was no shortage of football smarts from the Jets however, who defended their lead brilliantly, rarely gave the home side a look at goal and played a clever counter-attacking game to cement their top-two position.

The Jets sealed the three points with two minutes left, when Joel Griffiths was put through on goal after a Rodrigo Vargas error and slotted past `keeper Michael Theoklitos.

Despite being unsettled when midfielder Stuart Musialik withdrew just before kickoff and had to be replaced by Noel Spencer, the Jets struck early with a goal the Victory will dispute.

Adam Griffiths headed home from a free-kick, though there was the suggestion he had slung Allsopp out of the way beforehand.

Melbourne poked and prodded their way around goal without success for the next hour, before Pantelidis' frustration gave way.

As Joel Griffiths was fouling him as they were tussling for the ball, Pantelidis launched his arm backwards - his elbow connecting square on Griffiths' jaw to earn a straight red card from referee Matthew Breeze.

Pantelidis could well find himself under further scrutiny from the A-League's match review panel, who could add to his mandatory one-match ban for his send-off.

Such is the closeness of the A-League that the Victory could slip out of the top four on Saturday night if Queensland can beat bottom side Perth.

But Newcastle have joined Central Coast on equal points at the top of the table for the time being, though the Mariners could edge ahead with a draw or win over Sydney FC on Sunday.

Musialik withdrew with a severe stomach bug, which worsened dramatically in the hour before kickoff and forced Newcastle coach Gary van Egmond into a last-minute switch.

But van Egmond said he was thrilled with how his team nullified the Victory's dangerous attack and managed to pinch three important points.

"Tactically I was very proud of the boys," he said.

"We made it more difficult for them and our boys were extremely gutsy in their performance.

"It wasn't one of our better footballing displays but it wasn't a day for that."

Merrick said he was not happy with his side's efforts in front of goal, but thought the Victory played excellent football despite the defeat.

"I'll be very happy if we keep playing like that for the rest of the year. That's the quality of football we want," Merrick said.

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