Adelaide United secured a dramatic 1-0 win to provisionally move top of the A-League ladder against a profligate Sydney FC side at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
A Eugene Galekovic inspired performance denied Sydney FC at least a draw following his brilliance between the posts, before substitute Awer Mabil scored a fabulous effort against the run of play, silencing the home crowd on 82 minutes.
The Sky Blues created an abundance of chances during the encounter and were clearly the dominant outfit for much of the game, but were wasteful in front of goal. Marc Janko was correctly ruled offside after he thought he opened the scoring in the 51st minute, however it was the closest Sydney came as it failed to take a number of guilt-edge opportunities.
Osama Malik unsurprisingly struggles at left-back
The 24-year-old was deployed at left-back against the Sky Blues, in a makeshift role, but was unable to contain his opposite number. Throughout proceedings, Malik looked out of position and struggled to curtail the involvement of Bernie Ibini. Ibini managed to get past the traditional midfielder cum-centre-back with consummate ease on a number of occasions during the match, delivering a myriad of incisive crosses into the box. Even when going forward Malik was unreliable when attempting to dribble and also failed to complete any crosses. In Malik’s defence he is obviously not a left-back in what was a questionable night of tactical decisions by coach Josep Gombau. A better solution would have been to start Craig Goodwin in the left-back spot from the outset and move Malik into midfield, pushing Sergio Cirio onto the wing.
Galekovic unflustered by the wet conditions
The 33-year-old was outstanding for the Reds and was the reason why his side was still in the match heading into the half-time break. Galekovic illustrated his experience by opting to punch instead of catch when dealing with Sydney FC’s corners and was convincing when called into action. The stalwart also made a plethora of crucial saves preventing Sydney from taking a deserved advantage. Incidentally, the gloveman also set up Mabil’s goal from his long kick. If the Socceroo can continue this type of form leading into the finals, Adelaide will be difficult to break down as it already boasts the best defensive record in the league.
Sydney lament missed opportunities
In what was Adelaide’s third consecutive away victory against Sydney courtesy of a smash and grab performance, it is the home outfit that should have won the match. Sydney was by far the more superior team over the 90 minutes and boss Graham Arnold will no doubt rue his side’s inability to find the back of the net. However, the positives were Sydney were able to generate a lot of openings and on another day would have triumphed as routine winners. Nevertheless, the Sky Blues can look to improve on its deficiency with three games remaining in the season, all of which are away from home.
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