An inspiring performance from marquee Bobo sealed the Sky Blues' fifth win of the season after the Brazilian striker provided a brilliant assist before scoring the eventual winner with a clinical poacher's effort.

In the absence of their prolific striker Roy O'Donovan and enduring torrential rain in Moore Park, the high-flying Jets couldn't maintain their brilliant early season form against the reigning champions, who rediscovered their fluid rhythm. Sydney FC enjoyed the perfect preparation for Tuesday's FFA Cup final against Adelaide United after bouncing back from last week's defeat to Central Coast Mariners with a performance reminiscent of their scintillating form of last season.

The hosts' defensive press limited Newcastle to threats on the counter. Their attack was mobile, clever and intricate and if their finishing was at the same level, the scoreline would have reflected a more comfortable win for the Sky Blues.

"Should have been four, five, game should have been over, " coach Graham Arnold said.

It took five minutes for Sydney FC to bounce back from their slump last week with a moment of inspiration from Bobo to put them on course for top spot. Bobo out-manouevred and outmuscled three challenges from Newcastle's Ivan Vujica and Ben Kantarovski to hone-in on goal but instead found the run of Milos Ninkovic inside the box with a clever low cross. From point-blank range, the Serbian made no mistake - piercing the back of the net with a first-time finish with his left foot.

Save for a Joseph Champness shot for the Jets, Sydney maintained their stranglehold on the contest. They dictated possession, commanded territory and for all but the rare break on the counter, they had the Jets against the ropes for the first half.

In his record 179th appearance for the club, Alex Brosque was in the hunt for a goal to celebrate the occasion but was denied two chances on the half-hour mark when teammate David Carney blocked a header en-route to goal before Jets goalkeeper Jack Duncan saved a one-on-one.

When the heavens opened and a monsoon swept across Moore Park, it wasn't Sydney's fluidity that suffered in the wet, but the ability of Newcastle's defence to contain them. Bobo was denied a deserved goal by another fine save from Duncan.

The attacking prowess of the Jets came to fruition after the break when Champness was certain to equalise minutes after the restart. However, Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne denied the teenager with a perfectly timed save to keep Sydney's lead intact.

At the other end, and despite a string of fine saves in the first half, Duncan will only be remembered for a calamitous error that gifted Bobo a simple goal. With the marquee's unexpected shot going out for a goal kick, Duncan pounced on the ball for a save but accidentally spilled it to the feet of the Brazilian, who slotted into an empty net to make it 2-0.

Just as the Sky Blues were on track for a routine win, another goalkeeping error pulled the Jets back into the contest. Redmayne misjudged the flight of a long-range shot from Dimitri Petratos, who made it 2-1 to give the travelling support some voice and hope of clinging on to top spot for another week.

But a late chance for Nigel Boogard couldn't salvage a point for the Jets. They surrendered top spot to Sydney FC, who will now look to add an FFA Cup title to their trophy cabinet this week.

"It's a trophy this club's never won," Arnold said. "We as a club have taken the FFA Cup very seriously compared to other clubs. The reason we took it so seriously is that we want the treble."