Melbourne City FC has suffered defeat in the A-League Men, going down 2-1 to Adelaide United on Tuesday night.
Jamie Maclaren and Craig Goodwin netted for either side in the first half, before Mohamed Toure scored the late winner for the visiting Reds.
Starting XI
For City’s third game in a week, Patrick Kisnorbo made two changes in his return to the sideline. Marco Tilio was used as a straight swap for Mathew Leckie on the left wing, whilst Carl Jenkinson was moved centrally in place of Rostyn Griffiths, with Scott Galloway coming into the lineup at right-back.
What happened?
The home side started brightly, with Tilio and Florin Berenguer looking lively with their chance creation inside the area, and City would be rewarded for that good start with a goal in the 11th minute. Jamie Maclaren chased down a clipped through ball that had been intended for him and put his body on the line as Joe Gauci came out to claim, but the City striker’s presence put the young keeper off and the ball was spilled into Maclaren’s path for the simple finish into a mostly unguarded net.
City continued its frequent incursions into the Adelaide area, with Nabbout particularly prominent in this regard over the following 10 minutes, but the next goal would arrive very much against the run of play in the 20th. The Reds had progressed the ball high and wide, just outside the City area, where the ball landed at the feet of Javi Lopez who sent in a far-post cross that crashed off the upright and wound up in the back of Tom Glover’s net.
The action-packed first half continued with a disallowed goal for either team just after the 30th minute, with both Maclaren and Craig Goodwin’s strikes ruled out for offside.
A nervy five minutes followed for City, with Adelaide coming close on several occasions, most notably when Carl Jenkinson was forced into a goal-saving block in the 37th.
However, the Reds’ momentum was halted over the remainder of the half by breaks in play for injuries to Tilio and Berenguer, the former being substituted off for Stefan Colakovski before the whistle was blown for half-time.
The home side had a mixed start to the second half, having another goal disallowed, seeing an Adelaide chance flash narrowly past the upright, losing Jamieson to injury and forcing a good save from Gauci all within the opening 10 minutes.
The 62nd minute saw a good double chance for City, with Nabbout cutting inside and forcing a strong diving save from Gauci, who then reacted well to claim Colakovski’s follow-up header.
The Adelaide keeper was brilliant on two more occasions over the next 10 minutes, pulling off two world-class saves to deny on-target Colakovski and Galloway strikes.
In the end, the combination of City’s tired legs and Adelaide’s fast finishes this season equated to an 85th-minute winner for Mohamed Toure, who latched on to an under-hit backpass and finished first time past the oncoming Glover to seal the 2-1 result for the away side.
What’s next?
The team won’t have to wait long for a chance at redemption, with our next fixture being Newcastle Jets at home on Friday night. Click here to get your tickets.
