Adelaide United rounded off their Melbourne pre-season camp with a strong performance against long-time rivals Melbourne Victory, securing a 2-1 win at the Home of the Matildas on Friday afternoon.
Bart Vriends opened the scoring late in the first half, before captain Craig Goodwin doubled the advantage shortly after the restart to seal an impressive result for Airton Andrioli’s side.
United’s starting XI featured Joshua Smits, Dylan Pierias, Bart Vriends, Panagiotis Kikianis, Fabian Talladira, Jonny Yull, Jay Barnett, Luke Duzel, Craig Goodwin (C), Austin Ayoubi, and Luka Jovanović.
Victory looked to dictate possession and build out from the back, while the Reds consistently threatened with direct balls over the defensive line. Both sides created chances, but United goalkeeper Joshua Smits produced a series of excellent saves to deny Nikos Vergos and Louis D’Arrigo.
As the first half drew to a close, Craig Goodwin’s whipped corner was met by a towering header from Dutch defender Bart Vriends, breaking the deadlock with the final action before the interval.
The second half began with Victory unchanged, while Max Vartuli replaced Smits in goal. In the 50th minute, Keegan Jelacic found himself one-on-one but unselfishly squared the ball to Greek striker Nikos Vergos for a simple tap-in, levelling the score.
Victory grew in confidence and looked dangerous in attack, linking up well in the final third. However, the Reds restored their lead just 10 minutes later when Socceroos winger Craig Goodwin rose at the back post to head home United’s second.
Immediately after the goal, Head Coach Airton Andrioli rang the changes, introducing Max Vartuli, Feyzo Kasumovic, Sotiri Phillis, Malual Nichola, Vinko Stanisic, Ryan White, Julian Kwaaitaal, Ben Folami, Harry Crawford, and Amlani Tatu. Austin Ayoubi took the captain’s armband to lead a youthful second-half.
Victory pushed for another equaliser, forcing several corners, but the Reds’ defence stood firm to see out the result.
Post-match, Airton Andrioli said:
“The pleasing thing was that we were able to improve from the game on Tuesday, both on and off the ball. The main group also played 60 minutes today, which gave them valuable match minutes. Overall, it’s been a very positive week.”
