Adelaide United has fallen to Wellington Phoenix 4-2 on Friday night at Westpac Stadium despite goals from Craig Goodwin and Pablo Sánchez.
A blistering start to the match saw opportunities for both side converted in the opening five minutes. First it was Craig Goodwin for the Reds, before Roy Krishna finished a chance for Wellington.
An incredible run from Tarek Elrich on the left flank, after the defender linked up neatly with Sergio Cirio, saw his ball into the box bounce around in the box before landing at the feet of Goodwin, whose strike flew past Glen Moss.
But seconds later, the Phoenix went forward looking for an instant reply, finding it through Krishna.
The intensity to the game continued to grow with United refusing to drop their heads and moving the ball forward as often as possible, creating countless chances.
Cirio constantly menaced the Wellington defence on the left wing, in particular Justin Gulley, marauding forward and getting a number of good quality crosses into the box. Goodwin was able to get on the end of a couple, but none troubled Moss.
In the 22nd minute, somewhat against the run of play, the Phoenix took the lead through Bonevacia, his strike beating John Hall in goal for the Reds.
For the remainder of the half, United continued to pester their opponents, but weren’t able to convert any of the opportunities they created.
The second half commenced at a pace just as furious as the first, but six minutes after the restart, Bonevacia completed his brace with an outstanding strike from distance before Ridenton bagged Phoenix’s fourth.
Pablo Sánchez came off the bench to pull one back, but the Reds’ gallant effort wasn’t enough.
Following the match, Head Coach of United, Guillermo Amor, said: “In general, the performance was positive.
“We think that we had a really good first half and it was probably harsh for us to concede the first goal after we scored first.
“Recently we have struggled to score first, tonight we did, but then conceding so soon after was difficult for us.
“Obviously we’re working hard to tighten up defensively because we know we’re conceding goals very easily. Sometimes (the opposition) score from not even half chances.
“But on the other side of that, we need to make more goals like the ones we scored today.
“The players gave everything tonight and they tried everything they could, working really hard.
“I always say to my players, the more times you fall down, the more times you need to stand up. The only way to improve upon our situation is to keep working harder and harder, and especially now we need to stick together as a unit.”
Match details:
Friday, 13 November 2015
Hyundai A-League Round 6
Wellington Phoenix 4 (Krishna 4’, Bonevacia 22’ 51’, Ridenton 68’)
Adelaide United 2 (Goodwin 3’, Pablo Sánchez 89’)
Venue: Westpac Stadium
Attendance: 13,654
