Adelaide United secured a solid victory over Melbourne City through goals from Tomi Juric and Stefan Mauk after Scott Jamieson saw a red card in the second-half that reduced the visitors down to 10-men.
A ticketing issue at the stadium caused several fans to get into the game well after the kick off, which may have dampened to mood for some of the supporters who waited many months to cheer the Reds on at a home game.
Both sides created chances and had shots on goal in the first period, but they predominantly ended up cancelling each other out. The Reds’shot-stopper James Delianov was troubled enough to make a couple of good saves, but neither side did enough to deserve a lead.
The second-half started off in a tame way as Carl Veart’s men looked a little lost and were giving the ball away easily, and on one such occasion goalkeeper James Delianov gifted the ball to midfielder Florin Berenguer on the right. The Frenchman quickly played it to striker Jamie Maclaren, who calmly put the ball into the back of the net. But the prolific hitman immediately knew he was offside as the flag was rightly raised by the linesman.
Sixty five minutes had passed when disaster struck for City when skipper Jamieson – who was already on a yellow card – put in a late challenge on youngster Yaya Dukuly. The defender did not wait to be given his marching orders as he knew what was coming. Questions may be asked about the first yellow card, which the experienced left-back received for talking back to the referee earlier on. That being said, the 32-year-old could have done better to keep his composure better with regard to the challenge that saw him being sent off for an early shower.
That red card turned the game on its head, as Adelaide immediately scored from the set piece that followed. With a defender having just been asked to leave the pitch, the visitors’ organisation suffered as the free kick taken by Louis D’Arrigo landed at the feet of an unmarked Juric. The 29-year-old forward had more than enough time to place his shot well, which saw goalkeeper Tom Glover get a hand on it before the ball rolled into the bottom corner.
Ten minutes more was all it took for the home side to double their lead, as Mauk and Mohamed Toure came together for a quick one-two in the box that allowed the former Brisbane Roar man to toe poke the ball into the back of the net.
With the wind in their sails and a superior numerical advantage, the Reds made sure that the rest of the game was all one way traffic as they created multiple chances. One such occasion was in the 80th minute when Toure attempted a pass to the back post that was blocked. But the ball fell back at his feet and he quickly let one loose at the near post that the keeper did well to save.
As the final whistle was blown, City will know that the game could have gone very differently if their skipper had not been sent off. That being said, this is the second consecutive game where manager Patrick Kisnorbo has had one of his men sent off.
Following the defeat in the City of Churches, Melbourne City will have a long break to recover as they host Western United in a derby game on January 17. Meanwhile, Adelaide United are set to travel and lock horns with Perth Glory on January 16.
