Adelaide United has almost secured a top-six berth with the premiership in sight after crushing third-placed Western Sydney 3-2 at Comm Bank Stadium last night.
Sitting in second spot with 12 points up for grabs before the championship series, Adelaide is 13 points clear of sixth-placed Sydney FC and a point adrift of A-League leader Melbourne City before the round is complete this weekend.
The clash turned ugly when Wanderers captain Marcelo was expelled in stoppage time after a melee when Adelaide’s Nestory Irankunda and Wanderers’ Calem Nieuwenhof locked horns.
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“This is all getting ugly. Lachlan Barr and Marcelo now squaring up – two big strong men, goodness me, locked in a bearhug,” Channel 10 commentator Simon Hill said.
“The game, which has been so wonderfully enjoyable to watch in terms of quality, ends in acrimony.”
Adelaide’s English midfielder Zach Clough was ecstatic despite a heated exchange between several players once the shrill of the final whistle brought the clash to a grinding halt.
“You can see how much it means to our team, the result of that game,” Clough said.
“We showed some real quality going forward and we’ve come here and scored three goals and conceded two, to win the game and that’s what we needed to do.
“We’re 11 (games) unbeaten now and we’re showing week in and week out that such a good team we are.” A short corner between Craig Goodwin and Clough allowed the midfielder to deliver the perfect cross to Ben Warland to open the score.
Warland’s delightful glancing header on the edge of the six-yard box handed Adelaide the lead in the 37th minute, eight minutes after Spaniard Isaias ended his shift to what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
It was Warland’s second goal for Adelaide before a South Australian connection saw Wanderers equalise on an ordinary-looking pitch. Brandon Borrello was too strong in a duel against substitute Ethan Alagich in midfield before finding French-born Congo international Yeni Ngbakoto on the wing. Ngbakoto slid the ball across the face of the goal before former Reds’ attacker Kusini Yengi tapped the ball into the back of the net in the 44th minute.
Yengi’s goal celebration was muted before Goodwin had a chance to give Adelaide the lead from a set piece just before the break, but the Socceroos’ effort sailed high over the bar.
However, Warland scored his second goal from a Goodwin set piece with another perfectly timed header inside the six-yard box four minutes into the second half.
Japanese striker Hiroshi Ibusuki made it 3-1 with a tap-in after a Clough corner unravelled a brittle Wanderers defence from a third corner. Wanderers’ Marcelo rose high to nod the ball from a corner beating the challenge of Reds left-back Ryan Kitto to make it 3-2 on the hour. The clash became a defensive nightmare as glaring gaps saw both teams trade end-to-end blows with no side capable of taking control of the tempo. And the Wanderers’ insistence in taking too many short passing touches around Adelaide’s defensive penalty box proved costly as the Reds put up a block and held firm.
Adelaide now hosts inconsistent Sydney FC at Coopers Stadium on Good Friday.
— NCA Newswire