Adelaide United pulled themselves further from the foot of the table with a timely three points against an underperforming Sydney FC side at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
The contest took a defining turn in the 28th minute when young left full back, Alex Gersbach was shown a straight red card for a late and dangerous challenge on Adelaide midfielder, James Jeggo.
However, capitalising on their one-man advantage would not be easy. For large parts of the first half, Sydney showed great resilience and character. Guillermo Amor’s men came closest to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half time when Pablo Sanchez’s cushioned header found its way into the back of the net, but the Spaniard was adjudged to be offside.
Coming out for the second half and bossing possession, the Reds quite obviously needed a spark to break down an organised Sky Blues outfit. This moment came from Jeggo. The 23 year-old hit a sweet half volley that crashed into the back of the net and gave his side a deserved 1-0 lead.
The lead would not last, though. Under-fire marquee, Filip Holosko silenced his critics with a clever, refined finish just eight minutes later to give Sydney a point to hold onto.
And it looked as though they would, until a 94th minute penalty decision saw Marcelo Carrusca step up and convert a pristine penalty to hand his side a dramatic win.
The referee gets it right… twice
Every football fans’ favourite scapegoat cannot be blamed for Sydney’s loss this time round. Referee Strebre Delovski, while the subject of Arnold’s ire, in fact got both of his match-defining decisions right on Friday night.
When Gersbach flew in late on Jeggo, even Arnold conceded that his youngster had shown the kind of over-exuberance that warrants an early shower. However, he did not agree with Delovski when the referee pointed to the spot with barely a minute left on the clock.
Jacques Faty clumsily collected Dylan McGowan in a goal-mouth scramble and while the centreback was unlikely to recollect possession, it was undoubtedly a foul.
Holosko has it
Coming under scrutiny for his early-season form, Holosko proved that he has the quality. The Slovakian international had scored just one previous goal so far this season and given his predecessor’s pedigree and impact had been labelled as underwhelming.
The marquee man had managed to create just six scoring chances and only hit the target with 45% of his shots. However, his composed finish over Eugene Galekovic highlighted the former Besiktas man’s undoubted quality. His goal aside, Holosko also created two scoring chances for teammates.
Sky Blues fans will be hoping that this turn in form is just the start for their foreign marquee.
Amor gets a personal win
Heavily criticised for the benching of star-man and crowd favourite Carrusca, Reds’ coach Amor looked like a man set for the exit at Coopers Stadium. But with back-to-back wins, the Spanish manager now has a platform to build the rest of the season on and while the win against Sydney gave his side the three points, he gained a great deal of respect.
Carrusca looked to be back to his brilliant best, a peach of a left-footed penalty gifting his side the three points. But Amor must be commended for the way he has handled his previously misfiring star.
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