Del Piero living up to the hype

The former Juventus player's arrival generated an unprecedented level of hype for the competition before a ball had even been kicked, and after three games for the Sky Blues, the club believes he's living up to it.

Del Piero scored a decisive goal in front of a sell-out crowd in Sydney's 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League's first Sydney derby at Parramatta Stadium, his side's first victory of the season.

It was his second goal in as many weeks and his all-round performances have received high praise, with his impact even surpassing the expectations of Sydney chief executive Tony Pignata, who played a key role in signing him.

"I knew he'd be good but three games in and he's starred in all three games," Pignata said.

"It just goes to show the kind of calibre of player and person he is.

"He's adapted to the A-League quickly and he's been a revelation off the field as well.

"Even last night leaving the ground, there was fifty to sixty people waiting for him and he took his time and took photos and signed autographs. He's just brilliant."

While Sydney has been forced to shift next Sunday's clash with Perth Glory to ANZ Stadium, while its home ground Allianz Stadium is being re-turfed, Pignata anticipated another bumper crowd at the 84,000-capacity Olympic venue.

He said there was no reason the club's regular season crowd record of 35,419, set at Del Piero's first home game a fortnight ago, couldn't be bettered again.

"The capacity is there. We've had a good win and Perth are a good team so why not?" Pignata said.

"Hopefully the spillover crowd (from big attendances at Allianz Stadium and Parramatta Stadium) can come at ANZ and people can enjoy watching Del Piero in action.

"He's proven he's well worth the admission price."

Del Piero is not the only marquee star living up to the hype with Newcastle Jets' Emile Heskey also finding the back of the net for the second successive week in his side's 3-2 win over Central Coast Mariners on Saturday.

A crowd of 15,289, the club's biggest attendance in almost two years, watched on at Hunter Stadium.

Newcastle has recovered strongly from an opening loss to Adelaide United with back-to-back wins over Sydney and the Mariners.

The Jets will next face Melbourne Victory, who ground out a badly-needed 2-1 win over previously unbeaten Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

Wellington Phoenix remains unbeaten after holding reigning champion Brisbane Roar to a 1-1 draw in Wellington on Sunday.

While Perth secured its second win of the season with a 2-0 triumph at home to Melbourne Heart on Sunday afternoon and shares top spot with Adelaide and Newcastle, all on six points.

The competition's newest franchise Western Sydney Wanderers is the only side without a win after three rounds.