Adelaide United head west to face an in-form Perth Glory, hoping to build on its morale-boosting and crucial victory after breaking its five-game winless skid.
The Reds were far from their best but dominated enough of the contest, while displaying a steely resolve, to edge Brisbane Roar 1-0 thanks to Craig Goodwin’s goal and a penalty save from James Delianov.
Despite the Glory occupying ninth spot, Wednesday night’s contest will be anything but easy with Richard Garcia’s side a better team than the table suggests.
And more pertinently, after one win in 12 games, Perth have responded emphatically with three successive triumphs, including a 5-1 trouncing of Western Sydney Wanderers at the weekend.
Furthermore, the pair’s previous two encounters this season have culminated in defeats. In the corresponding fixture back in January Adelaide lost 5-3.
An intriguing clash awaits as this game has become synonymous with an abundance of goals in recent times.
Veart on improving performances with short turnarounds…
I don’t think we can actually do anything really with these short turnarounds. We just have to stick to what we’ve been doing all season and just reinforce the messages that we’ve been doing all year. I say the performance wasn’t what we liked, but it was more the performance with the ball. I was very happy with the way we pressed and our energy to win the ball back was excellent, it was just what we did when we had the ball that we weren’t happy with.
Veart on embracing pressure that comes with remaining matches…
You have to have your own pressure not just from other teams but the pressure that you put on yourself to perform as well. If you want to have success, pressure comes along with success.
Veart on Perth’s recent form…
They’re quite a physical side. In their game against Western Sydney I can’t believe Western Sydney got punished so hard with their physical challenges from Perth and they got away with it. It’s something that we’ll have to put up with and give them time on the ball with (Diego) Castro, (Bruno) Fornaroli, and (Chris) Ikonomidis, they’ve got some great players there that we have to be careful of.
Team news
Michael Marrone and Pacifique Niyongabire have both been promoted to the senior side. Joe Gauci has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a quad injury, while Tomi Juric is recovering from a strain in his calf.
Adelaide United squad: 1.James DELIANOV (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 3.George TIMOTHEOU, 4.Ryan STRAIN, 6.Louis D’ARRIGO, 7.Ryan KITTO, 8.Stefan MAUK (c), 11.Craig GOODWIN, 17.Mohamed TOURE, 18.Joe CALETTI, 21.Javi LÓPEZ, 22.Michael JAKOBSEN, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE, 26.Ben HALLORAN, 27.Josh CAVALLO, 28.JUANDE, 29.Kusini YENGI, 33.Dakota OCHSENHAM (gk), 35.Al Hassan TOURE
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 2.Michael MARRONE (promoted), 24.Pacifique NIYONGABIRE (promoted)
Outs: nil
Unavailable: 9.Tomi JURIC (calf), 16.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS (knee), 46.Joe GAUCI (quadricep)
Head-to-head
Played: 47
Wins: 19
Draws: 11
Losses: 17
Last five meetings
1-2 loss (H)
5-3 loss (A)
5-3 win (H)
3-0 loss (A)
3-3 draw (aet) (A)
Ones to watch
When Craig Goodwin scores Adelaide United wins. It is a rather simple equation. After netting the winner in clinical fashion against Brisbane, the winger has now netted in six separate games since returning to his hometown club. The Reds have remarkably triumphed in all those games, and it is clear his influence on the team is imperative to United’s success. Another big performance from the 29-year-old will go a long way to helping Veart’s side move closer to playing finals football.
Diego Castro or Bruno Fornaroli are obvious choices as players that the Reds must be wary of and restrict their involvement. However, having fired four goals past the Wanderers, Andy Keogh will be full of confidence. The Irishman had surprisingly not found the net this campaign until Sunday, so it will be important to limit his chances.
Match details:
Wednesday, 19 May vs Perth Glory
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 21
Kick-off 8.50pm ACST
Venue: HBF Park
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
