Marco Kurz felt Adelaide United failed to compete and as a consequence made it “easy” for Western Sydney Wanderers at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.
It was a rather uninspiring performance from the Reds, who suffered a 3-1 loss and their first defeat in six games.
All three of the goals Adelaide conceded occurred from set plays: a free-kick, a throw-in, and a goal-kick.
Oriol Riera was not marked properly and scored a diving header from Roly Bonevacia’s set-piece.
Ryan Kitto did net an equaliser before half-time after Craig Goodwin had earlier saw his penalty saved.
But second-half goals from Roly Bonevacia and Manyiel Riel Majok proved a mountain too big to climb.
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Kurz believed his side lacked desire at times and deserved to take nothing from the match.
“The result is correct because Western Sydney were the better team,” Kurz told reporters in the post-match press conference.
“But I’m disappointed because when I saw how we conceded the goals it was too easy.
“The first after a free-kick, the second after a throw-in and they played three against one, and third goal as well.
“And then it’s hard to comeback, we did come back (initially) we scored the equaliser and I had the feeling we were back in the game in the second-half.
“But the second goal was too easy, after the throw-in we had a three against one situation and you must be stronger in the duels and stronger in the challenges.
“Maybe they’re little details but in the end these details bring the game in the right direction and today we were a bit lazy.”
The loss also meant Adelaide squandered the opportunity to not only close the gap on third-placed Melbourne Victory to two points but also distance themselves by five points from Melbourne City and Wellington Phoenix.
“At the moment we’re disappointed but tomorrow and next week we’ll keep going because we stay in a good position,” he said.
“I think our position in the ladder is not too bad for us at the moment and you can lose a game but today it was too easy and that’s the reason we’re not happy.”
Adelaide United face Newcastle Jets in Round 20 of the Hyundai A-League 2018/19 season on Sunday, 24 February at McDonald Jones Stadium. Kick-off is at 4.30pm ACDT. Live on Fox Sports, and streamed on the My Football Live App and Kayo Sports.
