Adelaide United 2-0 Western Sydney Wanderers: Reds Too Good For Winless Wanderers
Western Sydney travelled to Coopers Stadium for what would be their last stop before Morocco came calling for their FIFA Club World Cup campaign. Unfortunately for the winless Wanderers, it was Josep Gombau’s Adelaide United who awaited them. In the end, the Reds triumphed in emphatic fashion against an ordinary red-and-black outfit who were reduced to 10 men early in the first half. As a result, 2-0 by way of the Reds was the final scoreline.
The home side started the better of the two as Bruce Djite sent an early warning signal to the Wanderers defence after his impressive burst of speed created space for the shot. Unfortunately the accuracy was the only thing missing.
Adelaide’s ability to retain the ball well and fight eagerly to win it back resulted in Western Sydney failing to make the most of the little time they had when in possession. And Nikolai Topor-Stanley’s red card with only 16 minutes gone on the clock did little to help rescind the away side’s problems. The captain, after previously committing a needless foul that earnt himself a yellow card, was caught out of position and subsequently handled the ball as he battled with Djite for control.
Midway through the first half Adelaide displayed yet another brilliant passage of passing play and, if it were not for Ante Covic, the match would have welcomed its first goal courtesy of the ever-threatening Cirio.
Adelaide threatened on the half hour mark once again through Sergio Cirio. A well taken cut-back-cross from Craig Goodwin found the feet of the Spaniard but again, fortunately for the makeshift back four it was Covic who was able to parry once more.
However, ten minutes out from the interval the home side finally found their well deserved breakthrough. After Craig Goodwin did ever so well to wriggle out of a tight cluster of opposing defenders, he was able to find the run of Cirio down the left-hand side. And – not for the first time – the former Barcelona youth product delivered a delicious cut-back ball to Marcelo Carrusca who made no mistake in caressing the finish into the back of the net.
Adelaide were fortunate not to have doubled their lead shortly before half-time as their liquid football continued to give the Wanderers defence a torrid time. Nevertheless it remained 1-0 going into the break.
The second half resumed in similar fashion to the first as United almost added a second. However, one counterattack later and Tomi Juric was almost played through to level the game. Mere moments on and the former Socceroo was unlucky not to have levelled the game once more as his shot sailed just wide of the upright.
Despite these half-chances by Tony Popovic’s troops it was Adelaide who once again sliced through the defence and garnered the goal. Fabio Ferreira, after picking up the ball out wide was able to play a clever one-two with teammate Marcelo Carrusca. The Portuguese followed his part of the link-up manoeuvre with an exquisite first-time volley that left Covic rooted to the spot as the ball went in off the post. Utter brilliance and surely the goal that killed off this wounded Wanderers outfit for good.
Had it not been for the outstretched legs of Matthew Spiranovic on the stroke of the hour mark, Bruce Djite would have added his name on the scoresheet as well. This time the pass came from James Jeggo out wide. Despite taking into account the one man advantage, it seemed that United were enjoying the ability to continuously find the run of oncoming teammates from the edge of the Western Sydney box.
Sergio Cirio deserved a goal of his own with twenty minutes to play and if it were not for the upright, another superb Adelaide United passing sequence would have allowed for their third goal of the game to come to fruition.
The remainder of the contest largely consisted of the home side carrying on their trend of possession football. As the Wanderers continued to defend wave upon wave of Adelaide attacks, the Reds seemed to lack the final ball. Regardless of this point, the way they effortlessly retained the ball and knocked it amongst themselves was very impressive.
In all, Adelaide United dually deserved the 2-0 victory in front of their 12,122 fans. The win for Gombau’s men means that the City of Churches outfit keeps up in pace with both Perth and Melbourne Victory at the top of the league. Meanwhile, Tony Popovic and co. will depart A-League football momentarily with yet another defeat: rooting them to the bottom of the ladder.
Adelaide United 2 (Carrusca 36′, Ferreira 55′) defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Attendance: 12,122
FTS Man of the Match: Sergio Cirio
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