Tomi Juric and Stefan Mauk both scored to guide Adelaide United to its first win of the A-League 2020/21 season after beating 10-man Melbourne City 2-0 on Sunday evening.
Juric marked his Coopers Stadium return with a goal to open his account for the campaign in the second-half and Captain Stefan Mauk put the result beyond doubt 10 minutes later.
It was the visitors that troubled Adelaide’s goal early in the piece when Craig Noone’s one-on-one finish was smartly blocked by goalkeeper James Delianov, who looked to continue his strong showing against Western United.
Adelaide fought back and controlled possession but Delianov was again called into action on 24 minutes, thwarting Jamie Maclaren’s shot after his clever run was picked out by Connor Metcalfe.
The Reds then squandered some opportunities of their own. Yaya Dukuly came the closest for the hosts to grab the opener after Mauk spotted him free but spurned his shot.
Two minutes late, Juric got his feet tangled and could not fire a shot away after a promising break from midfield by Mauk.
Carl Veart’s side suffered a blow when Ryan Strain was forced off with injury and had to be replaced by Michael Marrone.
They regrouped after the break and looked to penetrate with more forward passes.
City were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute after Scott Jamieson unnecessarily fouled Dukuly and from the resulting free-kick United struck.
An expertly worked set-piece manoeuvre off the training ground saw Louis D’Arrigo disguise his cross and instead find the Socceroos striker, who placed his finish into the corner.
United bossed the remainder of the match and recorded a second straight clean sheet in the A-League to start the season.
Team News
Adelaide went into the game unchanged with Head Coach, Carl Veart, looking to establish some continuity in the side and build on the promising display from the previous week. George Timotheou was the only new inclusion to the matchday squad, who began proceedings from the bench.
Key Moments
7’ | SAVE! Delianov races off his line and at full stretch manages to produce a diving save to deny Noone’s close-range attempt.
24’ | SAVE! Maclaren is played in behind by Metcalfe but Delianov is equal to it before the striker’s headed follow-up effort is cleared by Elsey.
65’ | RED CARD! Jamieson is dismissed for a second bookable offence after bring down Dukuly on the wing.
66’ | GOAL! Juric’s first-time shot from D’Arrigo’s pass beats Glover despite getting fingertips to it.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268479001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6219796609001
76’ | GOAL! Mauk plays a brilliant one-two with Mohamed Toure and sees his deflected shot beat Glover.
https://players.brightcove.net/5498268479001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6219803333001
Match details:
Game date: Sunday, 3 January
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 2
Adelaide United 2 (Juric 66, Mauk 76’)
Melbourne City 0
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Crowd: 10,106
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