Adelaide United added valuable match minutes to its pre-season preparations with a 2–0 defeat to Perth Glory at Hay Park in Bunbury on Sunday.
An evenly contested match on a difficult playing surface, with the Reds continuing to build towards the upcoming A-League Men season.
Adrian Stenta led the side in the absence of Head Coach Airton Andrioli, who is in Sydney completing the final week of his Pro Licence.
The first of two fixtures on Perth Glory’s 2026 Regional Tour also gave supporters in regional Western Australia an opportunity to see both clubs in action, ahead of another meeting in Northam next Saturday.
United made two changes to the starting XI from the AFC Champions League Two victory over Tai Po, with Craig Goodwin and Mitchell Smith replacing Fabian Talladira and Juan Muñiz.
Goodwin captained the side, while Sotiri Phillis retained his place alongside Panagiotis Kikianis.
Jonny Yull had an early sight of goal, showing a good turn of pace to create a shooting opportunity before his effort was gathered by Perth goalkeeper Solsky.
The Reds looked to build through possession, but the uneven surface made passing football difficult, with the unpredictable bounce disrupting both sides’ rhythm.
Perth adopted a more direct approach, and there was little separating the teams throughout a competitive opening half. Kikianis cleared a Sebastian Despotovski effort off the line, while United continued to work for openings at the other end.
The sides went into the break at 0–0, before two moments early in the second half swung the contest Perth’s way.
Despotovski opened the scoring in the 46th minute, finishing at the second opportunity after the ball was returned across goal. Lucas Scicluna added a second eight minutes later, converting after Joshua Smits’ initial save and another ball back into the danger area.
Those moments proved decisive in an otherwise closely contested hit-out, with United maintaining its intent to play through the hosts despite the challenging conditions.
The Reds made five changes in the 66th minute, introducing Max Vartuli, Muñiz, Anselmo de Moraes, Feyzo Kasumovic and Ajak Riak for Smits, Jay Barnett, Smith, Brody Burkitt and Ethan Alagich.
Anselmo had an opportunity to reduce the deficit shortly after coming on but was unable to convert.
Harry Crawford then replaced Jacob Brazete, before Ben Folami, Joey Garuccio and Vinko Stanisic entered for Yull, Luke Duzel and Phillis, giving the coaching staff further opportunities to assess combinations across the squad.
United continued to search for a goal, with Muñiz forcing a smart save from Solsky in the closing minutes.
While the scoreline favoured Perth, the afternoon’s focus extended beyond the result: building match fitness, testing ideas and giving players an opportunity to put training-ground work into practice against A-League opposition.
The Reds will have another opportunity to build on that work when the sides meet at Henry Street Oval in Northam on Saturday, 3 October, kicking off at 2pm AWST / 3:30pm ACST.
Starting XI (minute substituted off): Joshua Smits (66’), Panagiotis Kikianis (full match), Jay Barnett (66’), Sotiri Phillis (76’), Ethan Alagich (66’), Luke Duzel (76’), Craig Goodwin (c, full match), Jonny Yull (76’), Jacob Brazete (73’), Mitchell Smith (66’), Brody Burkitt (66’).
Bench (minute substituted on): Vinko Stanisic (76’), Harry Crawford (73’), Ethan Cox (unused), Max Vartuli (66’), Ben Folami (76’), Feyzo Kasumovic (66’), Ajak Riak (66’), Juan Muñiz (66’), Anselmo de Moraes (66’), Joey Garuccio (76’).
