01-14-2007, 08:27 AM
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Late goal enough for Adelaide
Sunday, 14 January, 2007 - 8:18PM
Marcus Wilson, Sportal
Fernando
Fernando
Adelaide United have registered a last minute goal and moved to second spot on the Hyundai A-League Ladder, beating Sydney FC 1-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.
The game looked headed for a draw as the Reds' attacking second-half was met by a dour Sydney defensive effort.
But with a minute to play, the home side's latest recruit Diego Walsh headed a ball from close range which was then rushed across the line by Fernando to record the winner.
Sydney almost found the equalizer when David Zdrilic headed a ball towards goal. But goalkeeper Daniel Beltrame dived to his right to secure a save.
Walsh, who wasn't expected to play in Round 20, came onto the pitch in the 71st minute, replacing Carl Veart.
He created plenty of spark during his time on the ground and brought the near capacity crowd to its feet by setting up the opportunity.
The victory was just reward for Adelaide United who made the play and some decisive substitutions after the long break.
United benched the fleet-footed Jason Spagnuolo for Travis Dodd, Nathan Burns took a spell for Greg Owens and there was the Walsh inclusion too.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina said the team had recorded "a lucky goal" but deserved some good fortune after a couple of weeks without success.
"We won that game by sheer will basically, we forced a result," Kosmina said.
"But we were smart about how we went about it, we played some good football and I think we dominated the second half.
"Alright, they had their opportunities but Belzie (Daniel Beltrame) was dynamite in goal and we had people who did their jobs."
Sydney would've been disappointed with the result after dominating the nil all first half.
Sydney FC coach Terry Butcher said his players put a lot of "hard work" into the game but didn't make the most of their time in around goal.
"It's hard one for us to take because we played some decent football, we had good possession, looked good at times but not ruthless in the right area," Butcher said.
"It's disappointing we haven't scored two games in a row and conceded two goals from set pieces as well.
"Adelaide kept going; both teams kept going for it, end to end stuff towards the end and pushing lots of men forward."
The visitors' moves forward were more calculated than their opposition and they were only denied success by the Reds decisive and aggressive goalkeeper Daniel Beltrame.
Beltrame blocked a 50-metre free kick from Ufuk Talay at the 19th minute and eight minutes later went one-on-one with Alex Brosque and won, diving to his right to execute the save.
Robbie Middleby did get a ball past the burly keeper late in the half but he was called for off-side.
While Adelaide United was outplayed, they did have chances to take an unexpected lead.
Defender Richie Alagich ran into some space near the right hand goal post, came in board but couldn't beat Sydney's defence while Carl Veart, Nathan Burns and Fernando all had opportunities within the space of three minutes to make their opposition pay.
But these attacking plays were rare highlights in a rushed and sometimes sloppy half where the Reds often gave the ball up too easily.
At the other end Brosque, Steve Corica and David Carney were a constant threat and would've been ruing the team's poor conversion rate.
In the second half Nathan Burns was the early playmaker with two thrusts towards goal in as many minutes.
One of United's best chances came when Fernando and Carl Veart linked together in the 60th minute.
Veart used his chest to control a pass from his Brazilian team mate and then kicked the ball out of the air, only to be denied by Sydney FC keeper Clint Bolton.
It was Veart's last meaningful touch for the game with the veteran benched in favour of the Reds' latest signing Diego Walsh.
Adelaide continued to create chances after earning a free kick and corner kicks but the home side couldn't execute the killer punch until the dying moments.
Adelaide United 1 Fernando 89'
Sydney FC 0
@ Hindmarsh Stadium. Crowd: 14,704
| Credit - A-League.com.au |
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