Adelaide United defender Jordan Elsey, admits his side were forced to defend deep in the second-half by Melbourne City despite wanting to be on the front foot.
Craig Goodwin opened the scoring with a header before the interval but some sloppy play from the Reds ended in Jamie Maclaren equalising on 69 minutes as the game finished 1-1.
Elsey said with the hosts applying a lot of pressure in the second-half they had no choice but to defend as a unit.
“We wanted to win the game obviously,” Elsey told Fox Sports after the game.
“We didn’t try to sit back but it sort of worked out that way and they got I think a bit of a jammy goal.
“So it’s frustrating, but we stay above them in the table.”
A 1-1 draw tonight to maintain a top 4 spot. And just one loss in our last 10. #AUFC #MCYvADL
📰 Report: https://t.co/82h72p93Ns pic.twitter.com/N0AL4lPAiO
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) February 9, 2019
Despite the draw, Adelaide do indeed remain in fourth spot two points clear of City in the Hyundai A-League standings.
The 24-year-old delivered another solid performance, completing 84% of his passes, while winning four duels, and two tackles.
He also made five clearances and two interceptions.
Elsey reiterated that Head Coach, Marco Kurz’s instructions at half-time was to play the same way as the first 45.
But the centre-back added that they will analyse the game and look to improve moving forward.
“We didn’t want to sit back but it worked out that way and I thought we dropped too deep,” he said.
“They came with a lot of pressure so we’ll look at the video and see what we can do next time.”
Adelaide have now suffered just one defeat in their previous 10 matches, and Saturday’s result extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
Adelaide United host Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 19 of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 season on Saturday, 16 February at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.20pm ACDT. Gates open 6.20pm.
