It was all smiles at Coopers Stadium as Adelaide United overpowered and outclassed a Brisbane Roar team looking more and more dejected as the season goes on.
A well-taken goal from youngster Bruce Kamau opened the scoring, only to be followed by a sharp finish from Bruce Djite following a goalkeeping error. Pablo Sanchez put the icing on the cake in the final minutes following an error from Brisbane’s Corona.
Problems are starting to surface for a Brisbane team now sitting in third place, while Adelaide leapfrog the Queensland team into second following after extending their unbeaten streak to 13 games.
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Brisbane Defence still struggling with Set Pieces
After being torn apart from dead balls last week all eyes were on Brisbane defence as they looked to recover against a constantly improving Adelaide United. Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi made a few interesting changes, with James Donachie, Dimitri Petratos and most notably, Thomas Broich all starting on the bench, a decision that will be discussed later in the article.
Daniel Bowles returned to the first team along with Steven Lustica and Henrique, and it did not had the desired effect. The defence continued to struggle. All the balls floated into the box became more difficult than they should have been. While it was an improvement over last week, Aloisi will want Luke DeVere to recover from his injury in order to add some steel to the defence.
Credit is deserved for Adelaide, they understood Brisbane’s weakness and exploited it expertly. Even with the absence of Craig Goodwin out wide it had no effect upon the Reds. Kamau looks to be having the breakout season he has been waiting for, scoring the first goal and having a big hand in the second.
Brisbane needs to find a solution to these defensive issues otherwise their season could be on a downward spiral at the wrong end of the season.
Benched Broich a Big Decision
It was a strange sight to see. The starting line-ups were announced and a big name was in an unfamiliar position. A fully fit Broich was named on the bench. One of the leagues premier marquees and arguably the best marquee the A-League has ever been lucky enough to have was on the bench.
It was a huge decision by Aloisi, one that proved he is not afraid to wield the axe, and Broich looked to be the one on the chopping block. His form this season has not been good enough, with no goals to his name and only a handful of assists. For a player on marquee wages you expect more and at his age this is not a good sign.
However Brisbane did come alive when he entered the game on the hour mark in place of the once again disappointing Henrique. The injection of Petratos also gave Brisbane much more impetus across the field.
Unfortunately this selection decision did not stop the defence from leaking goals. Questions need to be asked of Michael Theo, who was at fault for the second goal and has now conceded nine goals in two games. His distribution, often seen as one of his strongest aspects, was slightly off. Much like Broich, his age is the wrong side of 30, and more games such as the past two may spell the end of his time at the Roar.
Adelaide are bona-fide title contenders
Yes it is obvious that Adelaide are challenging for the title, yes it has been that way for many rounds now, but it is games such as these that prove Adelaide have what it takes to go all the way.
This win marks 13 games unbeaten for the South Australian team, going from the base of the league right up to the top two. From the first minute their game plan was perfect. The defence looked rock solid, Stefan Mauk looks to have been a shrewd piece of transfer business for the club while Djite looks to finally reaping the rewards for his hard work.
The depth in the squad is there to see, the form of players such as Marcelo Carrusca outline where the club is at the moment. The combinations are working to perfection and with more health crowds such as this one, Adelaide may well be ready for an interesting end to the season, especially if their form continues.
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