Adelaide United suffered a 2-1 loss to current Hyundai A-League Champions, Melbourne Victory, on Saturday night.
A second half penalty from creative midfielder, Marcelo Carrusca, wasn’t enough to cancel out two first half converted set pieces from Victory, as the Reds remain winless this campaign.
A 14th minute penalty from Besart Berisha, followed by an Oliver Bozanic free-kick on the half-hour mark, set Melbourne up well to secure the three points at Etihad Stadium.
With the match starting at a furious pace, the Reds were quick to start peppering shots towards the Victory goal and made a number of opportunities.
But somewhat against the run of play, United went a goal behind after Jordan Elsey fouled Jason Geria in the box, sending Berisha to the spot.
Bozanic made it 2-0 when his smartly taken free-kick snuck into the near post and past Reds Captain, Eugene Galekovic, in goal.
For the remaining fifteen minutes of the opening stanza, the hosts dictated a lot of the play, but United were not deterred and came out in the second half refreshed and full of confidence going forward.
A strong chance fell to George Mells following neat work by Tarek Elrich on the left wing, but Mells’ strike was blocked. Craig Goodwin and Sergio Cirio were both lively on the wings, putting numerous of quality crosses into the box, but they weren’t able to be capitalised on.
The introductions of Pablo Sánchez and Marcelo Carrusca on the hour mark brought added intensity to the Reds’ attacking threat, opening up the midfield and generating increased creativity.
The Reds’ persistence and determination had Victory with their backs against a wall often, and United’s pressure eventually caused the hosts to cave, Kosta Barbarouses fouling Craig Goodwin and gifting Carrusca the chance from 12 yards.
But for all of Adelaide’s endeavour, they were unable to find an equalising goal, succumbing to defeat.
Following the match, Guillermo Amor said: “In general, I think we played a good game and if we had left with a better result it wouldn’t have been odd.
“I think we deserved a draw, at least. We always go into games looking to win, but after things happen in a match, it can be difficult.
“After tonight’s game and the other games that we’ve played, looking at the work of my players in our games and in training, I’m not concerned (with how we’re playing).
“The players in the first half did their best, but in the end the idea was to go back and get the result in the second half. We started to push more and moved higher up the pitch to put pressure onto them.
“We’re going to analyse this game and start to think and get ready for our next game against Perth (Glory).
“The way to turn this around is to keep working, to communicate between us, and trust each other.
“There’s a lot more games to play and a lot more points to play for, so we’ll keep working.”
Match details:
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Hyundai A-League Round 8
Melbourne Victory 2 (Berisha 13’, Bozanic 30’)
Adelaide United 1 (Carrusca 88’)
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Attendance: 23,415
