Ross Aloisi was immensely proud of Adelaide United’s application against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
The Reds salvaged a point after initially being denied an equaliser when Javi López left-footed drive was chalked off to draw 1-1 in dramatic fashion.
Craig Goodwin’s emphatic stoppage time volley, incidentally assisted by López, got United a deserved share of the spoils against the front runners.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, interim Head Coach, Aloisi, praised Adelaide’s character and spirit.
“All I can say is that I’m extremely proud of the players for the effort that they put in tonight, they never gave up,” he told the media.
“We kept Melbourne Victory to one shot on target and that was the goal, our goalkeeper didn’t make a save.
“We scored two goals, we could’ve had another two on set-pieces. One hit the crossbar and Jacob Tratt should’ve scored in the first-half.
“It wasn’t our best game, but the possession stats were still very, very even.
“But I must say to come back against Melbourne Victory in Melbourne, the league leaders, and score two goals after they score their goal so late in the game is something to be proud of.”
Controversy surrounded the decision to disallow López’s goal on 86 minutes with Aloisi asked to give his assessment of the incident.
“In my opinion Stefan Mauk has headed the ball,” he explained.
“He’s gone to ground, that’s part of the game. He’s not standing in front of the ‘keeper, he’s not blocking him.
“It just happened that he was there and Javi López scored a cracking goal.
“I’m told that it didn’t go to VAR, I don’t know if it did or if didn’t. But we’ve got to accept it and move on and happy with the result that we got anyway.”
The South Australians also finished the match with nine players following Isaías’ dismissal for a second yellow card, while substitute Louis D’Arrigo had to be withdrawn after sustaining a nasty head clash and subsequent awkward landing on his knee.
Josh Cavallo, another substitute, also had to be replaced by Lachlan Barr, who made his Reds debut, after copping a stray arm to the face.
Aloisi was confident D’Arrigo and Cavallo will be available for next weekend’s match against Melbourne City.
“Josh (Cavallo) had concussion, he was blurry in one eye,” he revealed.
“Louis has been tested for concussion but it was his knee that he came off for. Structurally it seems okay, so we’re hopeful he’ll be okay for next week.”
