Adelaide United made it four straight home wins over Melbourne City in all competitions following a 2-0 triumph on Sunday evening.
It was Carl Veart’s maiden win in his second game in charge since being appointed Head Coach on a full-time basis.
United extended their undefeated streak to seven matches under Veart’s tutelage as the Reds also registered a second consecutive clean sheet.
City were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute and the Reds immediately capitalised on their numerical advantage from the subsequent free-kick.
Tomi Juric scored his first goal in his second coming with the Club after Louis D’Arrigo’s disguised set-piece picked out the striker unmarked.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Veart, admitted the team improved as the contest wore on.
“The first-half they caused us quite a few issues, their rotation and the movement in their midfield was very good,” he told reporters.
“We struggled to cope with that a little bit in the first-half, we fixed that up and tightened our midfield up a little bit in the second-half which allowed us to intercept a lot more balls and provide a few more balls in behind.
“And we started to stretch them a little bit and that’s when we started to get a little more success.”
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Veart praised Juric’s impact following the 29-year-old’s decisive goal and insisted he will only get better.
“I think again tonight he showed glimpses that he is the best striker that Australia has,” he said.
“I truly believe that, his adaptability to play the way that he does, he can play to feet, he can go in behind, he’s strong and he’s a great finisher and we saw that tonight with the set-piece.”
Stefan Mauk doubled the advantage 10 minutes later courtesy of a deflection when he ventured into the area and finished off a one-two with Mohamed Toure.
It was the first Reds’ game at Coopers Stadium in almost 10 months and Veart said the crowd of 10,106 spectators really helped drive the team on, particularly in the second-half.
“The excitement that they brought and I said at half-time that we needed to get the fans involved in the game,” he said.
“We needed to be a bit more attacking, a bit more positive, and bring the fans along with us.
“And once they lift and they started supporting us then the players get a lift as well and then we stepped our game up and took it to the next level and got the goals.”
Next match details:
Game date: Saturday, 16 January
A-League 2020/21 – Matchweek 4
Kick-off 6.40pm ACDT
Venue: HBF Park
Broadcast: Fox Sports
Stream: Kayo Sports, MyFootball Live App
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