Adelaide United has suffered its second successive loss, falling 1-0 to Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday night, despite an extraordinary performance from gloveman Paul Izzo.
Izzo was sensational between the sticks, particularly in the first-half, and bailed Adelaide out from trailing early for a fifth consecutive Hyundai A-League match.
But Andy Keogh broke the deadlock with a climbing header for the visitors to steal all three points in the 80th minute.
Marco Kurz named an unchanged line-up for the clash which fell to Melbourne City last time out. After impressing in his maiden league start in Round 4, Nathan Konstandopoulos, retained his place in midfield alongside Daniel Adlung and Isaías.
Young centre-back, Ben Warland, received his second consecutive league start, while George Blackwood continued to lead the line up front.
Adelaide were indebted to goalkeeper Izzo for keeping the Reds on parity in the opening exchanges.
The 22-year-old first denied Diego Castro from the spot before committing a reaction save moments later, preventing Keogh’s thunderous strike from close range.
He then made a crucial save to deny Adam Taggart prior to Keogh netting the winner.
Key Moments:
3’ | Keogh is fouled in the box by Michael Marrone, with referee Stephen Lucas pointing to the spot.
4’ | PENALTY SAVED! The ensuing penalty from Castro is spectacularly saved by Izzo, who dives to his left to deny the Spaniard.
The talking point from the first half was this STUNNING penalty save from @P_izzo! #PERvADL #ALeague pic.twitter.com/N3lN32sGwv
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) November 4, 2017
10’ | Izzo again comes to Adelaide’s rescue with a stunning, instinctive save from point-blank range to thwart Keogh from inside the six-yard box, after the ball ricocheted to him off a corner.
55’ | Chris Harold is unable to sort his feet out for an easy tap-in, allowing Izzo enough time to react and stand tall to block his shot.
65’ | Adlung’s well-driven free-kick forces Reddy into parrying the ball away to safety.
73’ | Nikola Mileusnic puts wide Michael Marrone’s low cross in what was the Reds’ best chance of the match.
76’ | Taggart is played in one-on-one from a counter-attack, however, the onrushing Izzo makes a magnificent stop to tip the striker’s effort wide of the target.
76' | It's @P_izzo's world and we are all living in it. What a fabulous save to deny Taggart. #PERvADL
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) November 4, 2017
80’ | GOAL: Mitchell Mallia gets to the byline and his back-post cross is headed in by Keogh to make it 1-0.
Match Details:
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Hyundai A-League Round 5
Perth Glory 1 (Keogh 80’)
Adelaide United 0
Venue: nib Stadium
Attendance: 11,049
