Adelaide United defeated Melbourne City 2-1 in a behind closed doors friendly at City Football Academy on Tuesday afternoon.
A last-gasp free-kick from Jordan O’Doherty and a successfully converted penalty by George Blackwood overturned Stefan Mauk’s opener in the modified clash of three periods of 40 minutes.
The freezing conditions were far from ideal for football with the players having to contend with the wind and rain.
Little separated the two sides during the opening 40 minutes. However, following the first break, City would take the lead through Mauk’s finish on 60 minutes when he capitalised on a slip in the Reds defence.
But Adelaide restored parity 10 minutes later, courtesy of a penalty after new signing Karim Matmour was fouled in the area.
Blackwood calmly stepped up to dispatch his spot-kick, sending goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis the other way.
With the match destined for a draw the Reds were awarded a free-kick in the 120th minute, 20 yards from goal. O’Doherty stepped up and slotted his effort into the top corner and in the process preserve Adelaide’s unbeaten run in pre-season.
Adelaide’s focus will now switch to their Westfield FFA Cup Quarter Final game with Heidelberg United on Wednesday, 13 September at Olympic Village. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACST.
