Not the result we wanted in Adelaide on Thursday night as City were defeated by Adelaide at Coopers Stadium. See our recap of the contest.
Starting XI
What happened?
A frenetic start at Coopers Stadium almost saw the Reds lead in the first minute as Sergio Cirio had the ball in the back of the net before the assistant’s flag thwarted Adelaide’s hopes for an opener.
The early scare sparked City into action and the response was immediate after four minutes. A wonderful dummy from Tim Cahill opened the door for the mercurial Bruce Kamau before cutting back to Bruno Fornaroli who made no mistake.
Adelaide’s reply came six minutes later however as Dylan McGowan beat his immediate opponent to head in from Isais’ pinpoint set piece.
The early exchange of goals settled the match in a sense as the chances dried up but the end to end play continued.
City looked to have found the reply to the early equaliser after 37 minutes as a brilliant run from Nicolas Colazo was rewarded by Luke Brattan, seeing the Argentine round Reds keeper Eugene Galekovic and finish into an empty net.
It was the offside flag that denied Colazo on this occasion, however replays showed the Argentine was onside by a body length as the visitors were denied the chance to go ahead.
Josh Rose would have the final chance of the half for City but Adelaide came closest to heading into the break with the lead as Sergio Cirio broke the offside trap in the final minute of the stanza. The diminutive forward had only Dean Bouzanis to beat as the keeper stood tall to out-fox the attacker and make an important stop.
City continued to attack down the right in the second half as Kamau continued to pressure the Reds’ defence with his speed on the ball.
The game broke open after the second drinks break at Coopers Stadium as City strung three big chances within the space of ten minutes.
Franjic, Kamau and Fornaroli fashioned chances on goal, not troubling Galekovic with any real threat before Adelaide hit the killer blow after 87 minutes.
A City attack in the forward third was cleared by United as Guardiola’s deft volley in front of the benches was played into the path of Mark Ochieng who made no mistake against Bouzanis, sealing the three points.
The result leaves City in third, waiting for the outcome of the clash between Victory and Brisbane Roar to see if they maintain their position at the end of the round.
Man of the Match – Ruon Tongyik
The young defender once again showed experience beyond his years, playing an important role both in defence and in the development of his side’s play going forward.
A couple of touches and take-ons that left the fans in his home town gob-smacked and the desire to break lines and try to create attacking moments sees the former United man continue his steady rise to first team football.
SAP Match Stats
What’s next?
As Thursday has showed, there are no easy games in the A-League and this continues next Thursday at home as we take on the Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park.
It was only New Year’s Eve that City came up against Paul Okon’s men in the 2-2 draw and after the result against Adelaide, Michael Valkanis’ side will have fire in the belly to maintain the pace with the breakaway top two.
