Breier off the bench rescues a point for the Reds in Sydney

Adelaide United twice had to come from behind in Sydney, answering an early opener within two minutes and then refusing to let go after Sydney restored its lead ten minutes into the second half. The Reds dominated the ball and kept pushing until the closing stages, where Breier’s 88th-minute leveller earned a hard-fought point on the road.

First half

Adelaide United made a lively start at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre. Paige Zois hit the bar with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box after a corner in the fifth minute.

Sydney FC struck first on the break a minute later. Riley Cohn played a through ball and Asha Sutton finished left-footed from the centre of the box into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0.

United’s response was immediate. Kiera Meyers had a shot blocked from the right side of the box, and in the same passage of play Sydney defender Charlotte Mclean put the ball into her own net to level at 1-1 in the eighth minute. Adriana Taranto then tried her luck from range, but her effort was blocked.

Sydney made an enforced change in the 19th minute, with Megan Mifsud replacing the injured Josie Wilson. The Reds kept the ball moving through the middle of the park, while the hosts looked to Faith Webber and Kiley Dulaney, who both sent efforts close. Chelsie Dawber threatened for United shortly before the 40-minute mark, her shot from the centre of the box missing narrowly to the left.

Zois tested Tiahna Robertson from long range in first-half stoppage time, and the keeper saved it. Adriana Taranto was booked for a foul late on, and Webber fired narrowly wide with the last chance as the teams went into the break level at 1-1.

Second half

The Reds began the second half on the front foot. Isabella Yakel hit the right post with a header from a Paige Zois cross after a corner, and Carina Rossi’s follow-up from the same set piece sailed too high.

Sydney broke the other way and retook the lead ten minutes after the restart. Riley Cohn had already gone close from the right side of the box, and in the 55th minute she found the bottom left corner from the same area to make it 2-1.

United kept probing and Theo Tsiounis turned to his bench in the 67th minute, with Emilia Makris and Lara Gooch replacing Rossi and Adriana Taranto. Kiera Meyers, Makris and Melissa Taranto all had efforts in the spell that followed, Makris’s header coming from another Zois cross.

A second pair of changes arrived in the 79th minute as India Breier came on for Chelsie Dawber and Tianna Harris replaced Yakel, before Sydney’s only late change saw Lauren Nada replace Olivia Price. Faith Webber then went close for the hosts from the centre of the box.

Breier made her mark in the 88th minute, striking a left-footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the right, following a corner, into the bottom left corner to make it 2-2. Ilona Melegh then saved Webber’s effort from distance in the bottom right corner, and Daisy Drawwater replaced Melissa Taranto in stoppage time as the Reds saw out a point.

Full time

A point in Sydney was hard earned and says plenty about the character of this Adelaide United side. Twice the Reds found themselves behind at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre, and twice they found a way back, with India Breier’s late finish off the bench ensuring the 2-2 draw. Against a Sydney FC side that has had the better of this fixture over the years, with 21 wins to Adelaide’s six and two draws in the previous meetings, leaving with something from the trip is a result the Club can take real credit from.

The numbers back up the way United went about it. The Reds held 65.8% of the possession and completed 360 of their 470 passes, compared with just 230 attempts from the hosts, while the shots finished almost level at 12 to 13 with three on target apiece. That tells its own story: the control was there, but sharper end product in the final third will turn dominance of the ball into more chances that count. Still, the willingness to keep pushing right to the finish is a quality worth carrying forward, and the Reds will look to build on this performance in the games ahead.

Match details

Next match

Adelaide United return to ServiceFM Stadium to host Perth Glory on Saturday 24 October, with kick-off at 4:30pm Adelaide time, as the Reds look to turn their point in Sydney into a first win of the season.