Spaniard Andreu went from first-half villain into second-half hero with a late goal, which enabled the Western Sydney Wanderers to force a 1-1 draw against Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Friday night.
Andreu, in just his second match for the club, redeemed himself with his 83rd-minute equaliser after earlier deflecting an own goal to give the Reds the lead.
The deadly Romeo Castelen was at the forefront for the Wanderers, who forged incessantly to even the ledger.
The visitors thoroughly deserved at least a share of the points against a United line-up which tackled smartly but looked decidedly rusty in most other departments.
GALLERY: All the best pics from Reds v Wanderers
WHAT THEY SAID
“We stopped passing the ball with purpose at the back end of the first half and then the second half we looked a bit toothless when we had possession. It’s something we have to work on. 1-0 is never enough in the A-League.” – Reds defender Dylan McGowan.
“I thought we dominated large patches in the first half. We can definitely take that into the next game. Lots of positives, if we’re creating that many chances they are eventually going to fall.” – Wanderers goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne.
GOALS
Andreu (21og)
With a sizeable stroke of good fortune, the Reds stole the lead when Tarek Elrich, dominating the left flank in his return to the line-up, intended a cross for Eli Babalj. Instead Elrich’s cut back took a wicked deflection off Andreu, giving Andrew Redmayne no chance.
Andreu (83′)
It was Andreu-Elrich the sequel – only this time the result was reversed. With the Reds’ defence under siege, Elrich’s poor clearance was swooped on by Andreu. The Spanish midfielder wasted no time smacking home the equaliser from less than 10m out, giving Adelaide keeper John Hall no chance whatsoever.
KEY MOMENT
Against the flow, Craig Goodwin blasted a thunderbolt from range in the 75th minute which was spectacularly tipped into the crossbar by the diving Redmayne and back into play.
Goodwin’s strike looked on target and would have given the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Instead Western Sydney took advantage of the reprieve.
HIGHLIGHTS REEL
Disjointed and scrappy early, Adelaide sprung to life through the exquisite, desperate first-half tackling of Dylan McGowan.
McGowan’s marvellous 19th-minute tackle denied Castelen, who danced his way into the area with some magic, and paved the way for the Reds’ opening goal.
Then in the 27th, McGowan was prominent again which a perfectly-timed challenge to deny Castelen.
COACH KILLER
The Wanderers squandered numerous opportunities to equalise earlier than they did, with the biggest hash made by Jaushua Sotirio.
After Castelen did all the hard work to jag his way behind the United defence, Sotirio merely had to tap the goal home.
Instead he miscued horribly with a schoolyard shank from centimetres out.
THE FINAL WORD
Despite Adelaide’s possession superiority, anything other than a Wanderers share of the points would have been an unjust result.
The Reds look far from the complete package and will need to up the ante when they travel west to take on Perth Glory next Sunday, while the Wanderers will be more buoyed ahead of next Saturday’s derby with Sydney FC.
TEAMS
Adelaide United: Marrone, McGowan, Malik, Isaias, Cirio, Carrusca (c) (Mells 80′), Goodwin, Jeggo, Babalj (Dugandzic 45′), Hall, Elrich
Western Sydney Wanderers : Jamieson, Topor-Stanley (c), Hamill, Nichols, Castelen, Delgado (Pepper 64′), Piovaccari (MacDonald 77′), Neville, Sotirio (Vidosic 59′), Andreu, Redmayne
Scorers: Andreu (21og, 83)
Red cards: Nil
Yellow cards: Piovaccari (38′), Andreu (44′), Marrone (52′), Hamill (60′) Goodwin (88′), Neville (89′)
Conditions: 20°C, overcast
Attendance: 9442 at Coopers Stadium
