Newcastle goalkeeper Izzy Nino has been handed a two-match suspension for her part in a melee, which erupted in the last minute of the Jets' crucial 3-2 win over a star-studded Melbourne Victory at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday.
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The American, who has played every minute of every game for the Jets this season, was red-carded in stoppage time for her involvement in a tussle that erupted between teammate Mindy Barbieri and Victory's Emily Gielnik.
The fracas broke out after Gielnik grabbed Barbieri from behind and pulled her to her feet after the Jets player, who was about to be subbed off, bent to tie a shoelace following a free kick being awarded to the hosts in the 89th minute.
On Monday, an independent match-review panel considered the incident and determined that Nino committed the offence of "assault on a player (eg, violent conduct when not challenging for the ball) or against any other person other than a match official including an attempt to assault a player".
The minimum sanction for such an offence is two matches, being the mandatory match suspension, plus one additional match.
The match-review panel, however, confirmed that Nino would serve a suspension of two matches.
The seventh-placed Jets face a must-win clash with Adelaide in Adelaide on Friday in the A-League's final round.
They need to beat the Reds and rely on other results playing in their favour to finish in the top six.
If the Jets won and Victory lost to Sydney, the former would clinch their first finals appearance in six years.
That left the club with just one goalkeeper to travel to Adelaide in 17-year-old rookie Lily-Rose Dunbar, who debuted in the A-League in stoppage time on Saturday.
The club and Nino have until Tuesday 2pm to advise Football Australia whether they want the matter referred to the disciplinary and ethics committee for an appeal hearing.