Carl Veart was impressed by his team’s response to going down to 10 men after Adelaide United dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second-half.
The Reds were held to a 1-1 draw against Western Sydney Wanderers at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night after taking the lead through Tomi Juric inside 11 minutes.
But United had to play the entire second 45 down a man, due to Louis D’Arrigo’s dismissal for a second yellow on the stroke of half-time.
After substitute Simon Cox equalised, Mark Natta would be sent off for the visitors in the 77th minute.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Veart admired his side’s desire, work-rate and resoluteness after the interval.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to them,” he told reporters.
“They worked extremely hard and that first 20 minutes in the second-half I thought we were the only team that was going to score.
“But we just couldn’t get that goal and credit to Western Sydney – they’re a good side.
“They got their goal, it was a bit fortunate, but at the end of the day the boys defended extremely well.”
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Veart admitted the plan going into the second stanza was to continue to keep the pressure on the Wanderers despite the numerical disadvantage.
He added that the Wanderers did not expect his side to come out and be on the front foot, believing his players are better suited to an offensive style rather than park the bus and counter.
“We wanted to push,” Veart explained.
“A lot of the time when teams go down to 10 they defend, and defend, and defend and you just can’t get any relief.
“I didn’t want that to happen, I wanted us still to attack and didn’t want us to drop too deep.
“And the boys to their credit they did that, we were still pressing at the right moments.
“We realised we couldn’t press all the time… Al Hassan (Toure) he did a very good job, he led that line very well for us in the second-half.”
Next match details:
Wednesday, 14 April vs Macarthur FC
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 16
Kick-off 7.05pm ACST
Gates open 6.05pm ACST
Venue: Coopers Stadium
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
