Adelaide United have snapped a two-game losing streak by recording a 2-0 win over a hapless Perth Glory at Hindmarsh Stadium tonight. The Reds, who had dropped their last two matches, overcame a slow start to consign the Glory to their 10th match without a win and their ninth loss in that time.
Perth coach Ian Ferguson made five changes to his line-up and although they looked much-improved, they couldn't deny Reds defender Iain Fyfe from nodding home four minutes after the hour-mark and Sergio van Dijk adding a second in injury-time to send Rini Coolen's men a point behind league leaders Brisbane Roar.
A-League Week 13 - midweekAdelaide United: 2 (Iain Fyfe 64', Sergio van Dijk 90+1') Perth Glory: 0
Venue: Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide Crowd: 10,023 Referee: Ryan Shepheard Yellow cards:AU - Marcos Flores 25', Paul Reid 55' PG - Andy Todd 17', Adriano Pellegrino 29', Naum Sekulovski 44'/63', Scott Neville 45+4', Steve McGarry 63', Brent Griffiths 90+4' Red card:PG - Naum Sekulovski 63'
Perth started in a positive fashion with Robbie Fowler in a very dangerous mood, supplying creative balls to his teammates who seemed very desperate in closing down the likes of Sergio van Dijk and Marcos Flores.
The quality of the match dropped in the mid-stages of the first half as referee Ryan Shepheard began to over-officiate as the players started to tangle.
The Glory were continuing to push the Adelaide defence before the Reds kicked into gear late in the term with a few close chances and although the opening 45 minutes ended scoreless the contest was evenly poised.
Fowler unleashed a shot early in the second half which forced Adelaide keeper Eugene Galekovic to make a top-shelf save as the Glory showed their intent in the opening stages but moments later it was the Reds who went close when Cassio made a jinking run down the left before supplying a cross for substitute Travis Dodd whose header flew inches over the crossbar.
Adelaide had a spell of dominance and it looked certain they would score. That GOAL came in the 64th minute when Lucas Pantelis' free-kick, after Naum Sekulovski was sent off for handball, was met by Iain Fyfe whose header gave Tando Velaphi no chance in what was a good reward for some great attacking play by the home side.
The Glory chased hard for a leveler with Todd Howarth coming close in the 74th minute when he unleashed a shot with conviction after rounding a Reds defender but apart from a few half chances, the Glory were unable to equalize.
GOAL The Reds sensed that the visitors were on their knees and managed to get forward for a second when Cassio played it out wide for substitute Iain Ramsay who supplied a pinpoint cross for an unmarked van Dijk who made no mistake with his head from close range for give his their fifth win in a row at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Starting Line-Ups
AUEugene Galekovic (gk), Cassio, Iain Fyfe, Robert Cornthwaite, Fabian Barbiero, Paul Reid, Adam Hughes, Marcos Flores (Ramsay 76'), Lucas Pantelis, Joe Keenan (Dodd 46'), Sergio van Dijk
Subs - Mark Birighitti (gk), Travis Dodd (46'), Iain Ramsay (76'), Cameron Watson
PG Tando Velaphi (gk), Naum Sekulovski, Jamie Harnwell, Andy Todd, Scott Neville, Steven McGarry (Fondyke 82'), Jamie Coyne, Todd Howarth (Griffiths 82'), Adriano Pellegrino, Robbie Fowler, Michael Baird (Amphlett 70')
Subs - Aleks Vrteski (gk), Tommy Amphlett (70'), Howard Fondyke (82'), Brent Griffiths (82')
