Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli praised the quality of Saturday night’s contest in Newcastle, describing the match as a “great spectacle” between two sides committed to playing positive football, as the Reds came away with a 1-1 draw.
While pleased with Adelaide’s performance and execution, Andrioli said the result carried a sense of frustration, believing his side had done enough to win and lamenting the impact of VAR on key moments.
Andrioli on the performance and the quality of the contest…
“I was really pleased. I think it was a great game of football tonight. The pleasing thing about tonight was two good teams trying to play good football. I think it was a great spectacle. They are an attacking team that wants to play football, we are the same, and from our perspective, I was very pleased with the way we played the game.”
Andrioli on VAR and the Ethan Alagich disallowed goal…
“Unless they’ve got a camera they can show me, and unless we’ve got different rules in Australia, the FIFA rule says that if it’s not clear, you go with the referee’s decision on the pitch. The lineswoman was in the best position to see, she ran to the middle, the referee ran to the middle, and VAR calls the referee in and disallows a goal. I don’t know how long they spent to make that decision. It sounds like I’m whinging, but twice in the game it’s frustrating. For me, it’s ruining the game of football. I always say the referees do a great job on the pitch. The way we use technology is hindering our game and putting our game backwards.”
Andrioli on moving forward and the run home focus…
“Our focus doesn’t change. We’re in a fantastic moment. I think we played a great game of football. The boys executed the game plan really well tonight. We just want to finish as high as we can. We prepare for the next game and get a result, and that’s what we do every week. I’ve got nothing to say but to praise the coaching staff and the players for the way we’ve been conducting ourselves. We’ve got good momentum, we’re playing well, and we’re going to continue that and see where that takes us.”
