Adelaide United secured a deserved 3-1 victory over the Central Coast Mariners at Coopers Stadium, led by the efforts of Pablo Sanchez and Craig Goodwin.
Sanchez and Goodwin, starting on the flanks of Adelaide’s forward line, wreaked constant havoc upon the Mariners defence, notching up a goal and an assist each and creating a plethora of chances for their teammates. With 17 points from their last 21 available, Guillermo Armor’s side are now one of the form teams of the competition and are slowly emerging as a genuine title threat.
As expected, the Reds were the dominant side in the first half, and should have pulled ahead in the 31st minute after being awarded a penalty from Nick Montgomery’s handball. However, Marcelo Carrusca, usually clinical from the spot, sent his attempt glancing off the crossbar and into the stands. Further chances to the likes of Pablo Sanchez and James Jeggo were also squandered, which looked to be punished by the Mariners in stoppage time after they received a penalty of their own. History repeated itself though, as Fabio Ferreira also sent his spot-kick over the bar, leaving both teams scoreless at the break.
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Adelaide’s dominance continued in the second half and they deservingly took the lead in the 60th minute as Craig Goodwin finished off an incisive counter-attack following a poor turnover by Mitch Austin. However, the Reds dropped their intensity following the goal and were made to pay minutes later as Fabio Ferreira, who had been far from his best for the entire match, produced a clinical finish from just inside the area to find the bottom corner and bring the Mariners level.
The equaliser lighted a fire underneath the away side, but just moments after they squandered a promising attack on Adelaide’s penalty area they conceded a soft goal. Pablo Sanchez made a fine near-post header from a corner, glancing the ball past Bray and inside the far post – had a player been on the post it would have been cleared. As the Mariners pushed for a second equaliser they left themselves vulnerable at the back, culminating in a late goal to Mate Dugandzic from Craig Goodwin’s pinpoint cross.
Double debut in goals
The crowd at Coopers Stadium witnessed the starting debuts of both goalkeepers, with Adelaide’s National Youth League goalkeeper Daniel Margush coming into the side after Eugene Galekovic was ruled out with a groin problem and Alastair Bray making his first appearance for the Mariners ahead of Tom Heward-Belle.
Bray was certainly the busier of the two keepers and showed why he was preferred over Heward-Belle with a commanding display. The 22-year-old showed great alertness on a number of occasions to come off his line and clear up passes from the Adelaide attack, as well as claiming several crosses with apparent ease. The former Bentleigh Greens goalkeeper did concede three, but could not be faulted any of the goals.
Although Margush was not called into action quite as often as Bray, the 18-year-old produced a stunning reaction save to keep Francesco Stella’s long-range strike out of the top corner of the goal. He was also not at fault for Fabio Ferreira’s goal, with the Portuguese winger’s finish capable of beating most goalkeepers in the competition.
Djite continues barren run
The 28-year-old lead his teammates out of the tunnel as captain in his 150th appearance for the club, but once again the striker failed to make an impact on the pitch. By failing to find the net against the Mariners, Djite has now played 21 A-League matches without scoring, a dismal return for one of the league’s starting strikers. With Eli Babalj waiting in the wings on the bench and Sergio van Dijk also rumoured to be coming in, Djite has to turn things around soon or risk losing his place in the starting lineup.
Luis Garcia signs for Mariners
Possibly the biggest moment of the opening stages of the match was the breaking news out of the Mariners camp, with former Liverpool FC player Luis Garcia signed until the end of the season. The signing will act as a consolation for the visitors, who will need to produce a big performance next week against Western Sydney Wanderers if they are to have any chance of securing competition points.
Outside90 Player of the Year Votes
3 – Pablo Sanchez
2 – Craig Goodwin
1 – Michael Neill
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