Nishan Velupillay has celebrated his Socceroos recall with a goal as a Juan Mata-inspired Melbourne Victory came from behind to secure a 4-1 win over Central Coast at AAMI Park.
Sabit Ngor opened the scoring for the Mariners in the seventh minute of Saturday night's match before Velupillay and Mata unleashed a two-goal blitz for Victory in the space of four minutes early in the second half.
The win was sealed in the 91st minute when Nikos Vergos scored after receiving the ball from Mata and setting off on a fast break from inside his own half.
Jason Davidson put the cherry on top with a 94th-minute strike.
The result lifted Victory (35 points) into third spot on the ladder alongside Adelaide United, and extended their unbeaten run to seven matches.
Central Coast (27 points) missed the chance to jump into the top six after their eight-match unbeaten run was broken.
The last time the Mariners had tasted defeat was on January 10, when they were thumped 3-0 by struggling Perth Glory.
Central Coast started Saturday's match brightly, and could have easily been 3-0 up at half-time.
The Mariners opened the scoring when Victory goalkeeper Jack Warshawsky charged off his line to block Nathanael Blair's shot, only for Ngor to be on hand to hammer home the crumbs.
Central Coast should have made it 2-0 when Warshawsky unsuccessfully charged out 30 yards in an attempt to intercept the long ball.
Blair beat him to it and was able to round the goalkeeper, but Victory's defence scrambled back just in time to block his shot.
And in the 30th minute, Victory had defender Sebastian Esposito to thank for clearing Ngor's strike off the line.
The Mariners were left fuming in first-half stoppage time when they were denied what looked to be a clear penalty.
Esposito appeared to move his arm slightly to deflect Alfie McCalmont's shot, but VAR deemed there was no conclusive evidence that Esposito had made contact with the ball.
The second half started with a bang.
Mariners striker Ali Auglah had a goal ruled out for offside in the 46th minute, and Victory levelled proceedings four minutes later when Velupillay - fresh from his Socceroos' call-up for matches at the end of March - headed home a perfect cross from Roderick Miranda.
Victory hit the lead in the 54th minute when Mariners goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne could only parry away Velupillay's long-range bullet before Mata steamed in to head home the rebound.
And with the Mariners pushing forward in an attempt to claw their way back into the contest, Victory unleashed another double blow in stoppage time to seal their second consecutive 4-1 win.