Adelaide United have surged into second on the Hyundai A-League ladder following their 3-0 thrashing of Brisbane Roar at Coopers Stadium on Saturday evening.
Bruce Kamau’s second goal in two games, complimented by goals from Bruce Djite and Pablo Sanchez, saw Adelaide United make it 13 matches without defeat and take second place on the Hyundai A-League ladder.
The Reds couldn’t have asked for better conditions prior to their top three bout with the Roar, both sides looking to cement their place in the top half of the ladder in Round 21.
But it was Guillermo Amor’s men who burst out of the blocks in the opening stages, pressuring Brisbane into making numerous mistakes, and creating a number of solid early chances through their own ingenuity.
The youthfulness of Bruce Kamau and Stefan Mauk on the right wing was particularly beneficial for United, the two South Australians providing Shane Stefanutto with a consistent headache throughout the opening 15 minutes.
In general, Brisbane were kept very busy at the back with the Reds earning three corners in the opening eight minutes, one of which providing Jordan Elsey with the perfect opportunity to put his side in front. Mauk’s corner was delivered perfectly for Elsey, however his powerful header struck the outside of the post.
Roar slowly worked their way back into the match and tried to fashion chances of their own, however United’s defence remained strong and prevented the visitors from truly getting into the game.
Marcelo Carrusca and Tarek Elrich combined well with Sergio Cirio throughout the opening half, but when Cirio switched momentarily flanks, it was his link up with Mauk and Kamau that opened the scoring. Mauk played a neat ball through the 18-yard-box to Cirio before the Spaniard squared it to Kamau, who struck a first-timed effort into the bottom corner.
Five minutes after the break, Cirio linked up with Kamau again to create United’s second for the night. Kamau cut into the box and fired an effort on goal, Michael Theo parried, but only into the path of Djite, who finished into an empty net.
Pablo Sanchez rounded off the perfect night for the Reds when he was brought into the match for Carrusca, taking just seven minutes to find a way past Theo. This time it was Djite with the strike that was saved, before Pablo Sanchez tapped home to make it 3-0.
Following the match, Amor said he and his team were expecting the tough game they had, but was happy with the way his squad controlled the match and eventually won the three points.
“We knew today was going to be a difficult game against Brisbane because they’re a very good team,” Amor said. “They had some of the control in the first half, but we played with intelligence.
“Then we started to control the game more and this is important in football because they’re a big team.
“The games are always different depending on the players and the teams that are playing. But the performance of all of our players today was very good.
“We pressed Brisbane, but it’s difficult to press your opposition for 90 minutes and sometimes you need to wait.
“You cannot win a game in the first 20 minutes and the good teams sometimes need time to win control during the game.”
Match details:
Saturday, 27 February 2016
Hyundai A-League Round 21
Adelaide United 3 (Kamau 38’ Djite 50’ Pablo Sanchez 80’)
Brisbane Roar 0
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Attendance: 12,712
