Melbourne Heart FC has fallen to its second loss of the season after succumbing to Adelaide United 3-2 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
Melbourne Heart FC has fallen to its second loss of the season after succumbing to Adelaide United 3-2 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.
In an exciting, open affair, Heart showed great tenacity to twice come from behind through Dutchman Rutger Worm and Eli Babalj, only for the Reds- Iain Ramsay to score a late winner and secure Adelaide its first victory of the Hyundai A-League season.
And it was the Reds who started the stronger of the two sides, opening the scoring after two minutes as Mathew Leckie pounced on an errant pass before speeding in goal and slotting his shot past Clint Bolton.
Despite the early blow, Heart soon regrouped though, dominating possession as it ventured forward in search of an equaliser, Gerald Sibon twice coming close to restoring parity with a curled free kick, and then a clever volleyed effort, which flew agonisingly high of goal.
Looking dangerous on the counter, Adelaide responded with a flurry of chances as Clint Bolton asserted himself in the penalty box, making a series of strong saves to deny Adelaide flyer Leckie.
But with Dean Heffernan continuously looking dangerous on the left flank, penetrating deep into the opposition half, Heart soon drew level in the 42nd minute, as the Socceroo provided an inch-perfect cross for Rutger Worm, who produced a bullet header to become the Club-s first player to score.
Heart carried the momentum into the second half, with the team-s passing game coming to the fore, but Adelaide again proved lethal on the counter as Ramsay swept home the rebound after Bolton made a stunning low save in the 52rd minute.
While Sibon attempted to immediately claw the goal back with a long range effort, Head Coach John van ‘t Schip soon produced a double substitution, bringing youngsters Brendan Hamill and Eli Babalj into the fray.
And the decision proved to be an inspired one, as Babalj scored his first ever professional goal, side-footing a measured shot past Eugene Galekovic following a strong run by Matt Thompson, who dribbled into the area before cutting back for the striker.
The strike gave Heart the impetus to continue pressing in search of a winner, but it proved elusive as Ramsay completed an impressive brace.
Match Details
Adelaide United FC 3 (Leckie 2-, Ramsay 52-/88-)
Melbourne Heart 2 (Worm 42-, Babalj 74-)
Referee: Ben Williams
Crowd: 7,370 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
Melbourne Heart line-up: 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE, 4.Simon COLOSIMO (c), 5.Michael BEAUCHAMP, 6.Matthew THOMPSON, 7.Rutger WORM, 9.Gerald SIBON, 10.Wayne SRHOJ (3.Brendan HAMILL 66-), 22.Nick KALMAR, 23.Dean HEFFERNAN (19.Eli BABALJ 66-), 24.Aziz BEHICH (17.Jason HOFFMAN 73-)
Substitutes not used: 12.Peter ZOIS (gk)
Yellow Cards: Worm 45+1-, Srhoj 65-, Hoffman 75-, Beauchamp 84-
Red Cards: Nil
Adelaide United line-up: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 4.Iain FYFE, 5.Daniel MULLEN, 6.CASSIO, 7.Lucas PANTELIS (c), 10.Marcos FLORES (15.Francsco MONTEROSSO 90+2-), 12.Paul REID, 16.Inseob SHIN (25.Matthew MULLEN 67-), 17.Iain RAMSAY, 19.Mathew LECKIE, 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 24.Cameron WATSON
Substitutes not used: 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 23.Joe COSTA
Yellow Cards: Fyfe 5-
Red Cards: Nil
