Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli praised his side’s discipline and structure after the Reds claimed a 2-1 away win over Sydney FC on Saturday night, sealed by Luka Jovanović’s 86th-minute winner.
Andrioli said the victory was a reward for the group’s commitment across a challenging match, highlighting the team’s resilience, transition threat, and the continued growth of the club’s young core.
Andrioli on the win and the performance…
“It feels good. It’s always good to win football matches, and especially when you come here against a tough opposition, difficult match to play, and very pleasing with the way the boys saw out the game and the performance, how they stuck to the structures, the discipline. So really happy with the result today.”
Andrioli on weathering Sydney’s second-half pressure…
“That’s football sometimes, when things are not going your way, what you do in those moments. And we did what we needed to do in those moments. In saying that, we also had lots of transition moments in which we could have finished the game off before. We had clear chances that we didn’t execute that well. It’s a difficult place to come. They are very good side. They play good football, but I think our structure disrupt them a little bit in the first half with what they wanted to do, so they had to find different solutions. That’s what we were aiming for. We had lots of chances. I think eight shots on goal. The goalkeeper was amazing. Fortunately, he copped that one there, but that’s goalkeeping for you. But I’m very pleased with this result. It’s going to help instill that confidence that we keep on talking about – these young kids, they have to play with belief.”
Andrioli on the midfield effort from Alagich, Yull and White…
“They had some good moments where the game went up and down, in which Sydney had good moments and we had to stay deep and defend. But we also had very good moments where we play our football, put the ball on the ground, play through them, create the chances. Those boys were outstanding today. Ethan Alagich was out for three weeks and was meant to play 65 minutes, and then he finished the game off. I gave him a bit of a wink and I said, ‘Are you okay?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m staying here.’ It was a tough game. The pitch was extremely heavy. Everyone was struggling, but we managed to get through it and in the end we came out on top. Pleasing result for us.”
Andrioli on adjusting without Craig Goodwin…
“It’s disappointing for him, the moment of the injury is never nice. We feel for him, but we need to move on. He’s fully aware of it. He’s going to be around and give us support off the pitch that we need for those players in the squad. We had to focus on the game. We knew this was going to be a challenging game. Winning a football match like this. I thought we were very good last week against the Jets, who are probably the best team in the league at the moment, and it was unfortunate we didn’t get at least a point. Coming here and backing up with this win, I’m extremely pleased. Now we regroup, go back home, and we’ve got a tough game against Perth next week. We want to keep getting points on the board.”
Andrioli on pride in the pathway and balancing development with winning…
“We hope those players can go a long way and go beyond the level they are now. This question comes up all the time and I’m extremely proud of the work we did. Going back to the days I was working at the Federation, we put something in place that was very solid. I still remember when we had the national technical director come to our state and say, ‘We’re closing the programs.’ I said, ‘No, we’re not closing, because what we have is very good.’ We stuck to that, and now we’re reaping the dividends in the long term. A lot of people are involved in that. We’ve got a very good system and we’re proud of it and we want to continue. Every now and then another player pops up. We’re proud of these kids. But everybody has to understand: it’s good to produce those players, but we also want to win football matches. If there is silverware, we want to get our hands on that as well. That’s ultimately the main goal, but we’re pleased with this and we hope it encourages us to continue down that path.”
