Adelaide United playmaker Marcelo Carrusca felt the Reds deserved to beat Newcastle on Friday night but paid the price for poor decisions in the final third.
Despite hitting the woodwork twice and having the best chances of the match, Adelaide couldn’t find a way past impressive Jets ‘keeper Mark Birighitti as the sides drew 0-0 at Hunter Stadium.
“We are very disappointed because I think we deserved to win tonight,” man-of-the-match Carrusca told Fox Sports.
Stalemate as Jets, Reds all square
“We played well, we kept the ball, we had chances but again we couldn’t score so now we go home with one point. It’s not enough.
“It was hard luck today, maybe the last pass, or the [last] decision was not the best but we have to keep going, keep trying to play this way and we will win more games.”
The draw snaps Adelaide’s two-game winning streak and keeps the club in ninth spot and playing catch-up in the second half of the season to make the finals.
But Carrusca is confident the side is on the right track and definitely on the up.
“We have confidence after the two games we won and the spirit is good in training,” the Argentine said.
“We have to keep going this way, keep this performance and I hope next week it will give us a victory.”
Reds striker Bruce Djite was a late substitute and was involved a contentious decision 11 minutes from the end.
Djite won a free-kick right on the edge of the box when he was pulled down by Jets skipper Nigel Boogaard, with the Adelaide attacker adamant it was inside the area.
“It wasn’t the greatest tug of the shirt you have ever seen but he definitely pulled me down and I thought it was a penalty,” he said.
“But me and the referee disagreed.
“We could have won the game,” he added. “[Carrusca] hit the post and hit the crossbar so we’ were a bit unlucky. A 0-0 draw is disappointing for us, we expected to win here but we start again next week.”
Adelaide returns home to Coopers Stadium for their next match, a Boxing Day clash against Wellington Phoenix.
