Adelaide United 1-2 Newcastle Jets: Reds below par as Jets snatch first win
A memorable themed Remembrance Day match at Coopers Stadium resulted in Adelaide United suffering an unforgettable 2-1 loss to the Newcastle Jets.
Suffering their third consecutive defeat, Adelaide United made the next six away matches even more important after the Jets held a two goal lead. Fabio Ferreira’s goal with 20 minutes remaining provided a sniff of a comeback for the Reds’ but it wasn’t enough as Newcastle claimed their first three points of the season. Both sides created many attacking chances in the first half but failed to capitalise. It wasn’t until the 41st minute when the Jets took the lead from Kew Jaliens, who was on the end of a effective Nathan Burns corner.
Mark Birighitti and Eugene Galekovic were continuously kept busy in the first half, with the former stopping a lethal Jeronimo shoot in the early stages. The second half saw Adelaide begin to threaten in the final third, with Fabio Ferreira providing a penetrating move down the right side. However, a turnover in midfield shortly after created Newcastle’s second goal as Andrew Hoole created a chipped goal from Adam Taggart. Josep Gombau quickly made some changes, introducing Bruce Djite and Cassio; who both made their first appearance for the Reds this season.
The 10,244 in attendance were hoping for an inspired comeback and it wasn’t to long before Adelaide threatened on goal. Gary van Egmond made a similarly inspired substitution replacing Taggart with striker Emile Heskey. Shortly after, Ferreira scored as he met Jeronimo’s cross from a perfectly timed run at the far post to head the ball into goal. The home crowd was riding the momentum created by Adelaide, but was soured after Nigel Boogaard was shown a straight red for a risky behind challenge on Heskey in the 90th minute.
A frustrated Gombau was forced to reflect on the performance which took a backwards step in the progress which Adelaide had made in the last month.
“I’m unhappy with the result, unhappy because we lost at home, unhappy with the way that we played, but this is football, said Gombau. “On Monday we have training again and we need to work. I have one thing that is very clear and that is the style I want to play.”
Marcelo Carrusca was judged player of the match and was awarded the Tomas Dale Medal.
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