Marco Rojas' brace sends Melbourne Victory second

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Marco Rojas's second-half double sent Melbourne Victory to second on the A-League table, breaking the deadlock in a 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets.

The Kiwi winger transformed a contest in danger of stalemate with goals in the 52nd and 54th minutes. Like most of his Victory teammates, Rojas stuttered and was without polish in a first half of missteps rather than memorable moments.

But when Fahid Ben Khalfallah was brought down by acting Jets captain Wayne Brown just outside the box early in the second half, Rojas delivered from the set piece.

The 25-year-old's free kick deflected off injury-replacement signing Iain Fyfe and into the net, leaving goalkeeper Jack Duncan cursing his luck. If Rojas's first goal had a touch of good fortune, his second was clinical.

Seizing on teenage defender Johnny Koutroumbis's loose ball, he surged forward and ignored central options Besart Berisha and Ben Khalfallah to sidefoot home.

The only Victory figure among 18,267 fans to seemingly be displeased was the Albanian, who turned his back and walked towards the centre circle without acknowledging the goalscorer.

But the rest were delighted with a third-straight home win that has Victory humming in the league. Their success was amplified given the tight history of the two sides -- not since March 2013 had either side won this fixture by more than a single goal.

And there was relief for Kevin Muscat too, who had to turn to his signing of three days -- Matthew Acton -- in goal. Acton was given the gloves after a finger injury to Lawrence Thomas in mid-week training, with second-choice gloveman Alastair Bray out with a dislocated shoulder.

Despite a hairy moment when he collected Devante Clut crudely outside the box, the 24-year-old proved himself to be a worthy shot-stopper, assisted on 89 minutes with a clearance from James Donachie off the line.

Jets debutant Andy Brennan missed his side's two best chances -- from a one-on-one inside the first five minutes and from a cutback with 10 minutes remaining.

But on full-time, Victory could count themselves unlucky not to win with a greater margin.

Until Rojas's emergence, James Troisi was the major creative force at AAMI Park, taking 10 of Victory's 21 shots and setting up several others. Berisha earlier produced a contender for miss of the season, sidefooting Troisi's cross wide from three metres with an empty net beckoning.