The big winner of Elimination Finals week is...
Noah Botic, whose two goals in Western United's home win over Adelaide United was converted to three upon review, giving him a rare finals hat-trick and Flashscore's top rating of the match for the second consecutive week.
The 23-year-old is going deep into what could be his last remaining finals campaign in the A-League after he confirmed last week that he was considering offers both in Australia and abroad, whilst also contemplating the best move he can make in terms of playing for Australia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It certainly would have helped on the latter front that assistant coach Hayden Foxe was watching on in Tarneit as Botic brought the crowd of 3,078 to life, becoming the fifth man in A-League history to score a finals hat-trick and the youngest by far.
Western United now have a two-legged semi-finals tie with Melbourne City, with both games set to take place at AAMI Park this Friday and next Saturday nights.
The big loser of Elimination Finals week is...
Carl Veart as his time in the A-League (for now, at least) came to an end when his struggling Adelaide United were eliminated from the finals series at Ironbark Fields.
Veart already knew he was on the way out, having been told last month that his contract would not be renewed into 2025/26 and beyond, and he'll go down as the longest serving manager in Reds history with 154 matches to his name - more than twice as many as next-best Guillermo Amor (63 matches).
Veart took the Reds to three semi-finals appearances prior to this season and their dreadful run home, during which they won just two of their final 15 matches (D5, L8), was seen to be the reason for his downfall.
The 54-year-old doesn't want to leave football coaching but is uncertain about what is next, admitting "there’s not many opportunities".
"I’ll look at anything. Willing to go anywhere if it’s a good opportunity,” Veart said, signalling he might pop back up in the competition soon.
A-League Finals Top Scorer leaderboard
Archie Goodwin and Adrian Segecic have already shared the 2024/25 Golden Boot award, which doesn't include finals, but we'll keep track of who dominates the goalscoring for the four-week finals series.
Hat-trick hero Botic dominated the headlines at the weekend and will be a key cog in the remainder of Western United's title push.
Goal of the Year: voting now open
The A-League has officially selected ten nominations for the best goal of the season, with the winner set to be unveiled during half-time at the Grand Final on the weekend of May 31-June 1.
Ariath Piol, Kosta Barbarouses, Jordon Lauton, Guillermo May, Eli Adams, Marlee François, Brandon Borrello and Luke Amos all made the shortlist, with Barbarouses and May receiving two nominations to strengthen their chances of winning the award.
Which one is your favourite? Click here to cast your vote.