Sydney FC beat Newcastle to stay in touch in A-League title race

Sydney FC have all but put a nail in the coffin of Newcastle's A-League season with a controversial 1-0 win at Jubilee Oval.

Not only did the Sky Blues remain within touching distance of pacesetters Perth with the result in front of 12,681 fans on Saturday afternoon, it leaves the Jets with a mountain of work to do with 13 games remaining.

An own goal by Jets skipper Daniel Boogard in the 44th minute ultimately separated the teams, however last year's grand finalists were fuming after Jason Hoffman was controversially red-carded for kicking out at Brandon O'Neill.

Replays of the 73rd minute incident showed that Hoffman made minimal contact and appeared to be rolling over after being tackled, but he was still sent off by referee Adam Fielding.

Despite the one-man advantage, the Sky Blues couldn't capitalise on their advantage in the final 21 minutes, despite a plethora of chances.

They butchered what appeared a certain goal when the in-form Adam Le Fondre missed a point-blank opportunity which forced Glen Moss into a stellar save.

The setback leaves the Jets 10 points behind the sixth-placed Adelaide United -- who beat the Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday night -- and their finals hopes on life support.

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The Sky Blues suffered a blow in just the seventh minute when defender Jacob Tratt came off with a hip issue.

After feeling discomfort in the warm-up, the problem flared early in the game, a loss compounded by the fact Paulo Retre is still on the sidelines.

While Sydney led at halftime the Jets weren't without their chances -- Roy O'Donovan hit the side of the net after finding himself one-on-one with keeper Andrew Redmayne.

Brazilian striker Jair also fired in a looping shot which forced Redmayne into a diving stop at the far post.

The deadlock was broken when an outstretched Boogard toed the ball into his own net while trying to deny Alex Brosque a goal-scoring opportunity.